Operation: matchMAKER!
by D. Milk
Summary: Marui doesn't want to go to Rikkai Dai's school dance, especially with Kirihara, but a secret committee might change all of that! Can the other regulars ensure that the couple happens as Marui and Kirihara struggle with their feelings? AKABUN and others
1. The Formal and the puppet show nightmare

**Pairings: **major AkaBun, minor Platinum, minor SanaYuki

**Chapter Warnings: **strongly implied yaoi/shounen ai, bad puppet humor…

Marui Bunta was resting his head on his backpack, falling asleep for the fourth time in homeroom that week. He could pray for one of two things—for school to end, or for death. He wasn't sure which he would have to wait longer for. Some students were watching the morning news on the television at the front of the classroom. Most of the boys were enthusing about sports tournaments that they were involved in, or what they would do at the beach that weekend. The girls sighed and squealed dreamily about the upcoming formal dance.

Marui tuned them all out—they began to sound like bees buzzing, which only succeeded in making him crave honey. Just as he was about to nod off, the PA system crackled into life on the wall at his side of the classroom.

_Ding. Dong. _

"Good morning, Rikkai Dai!" exclaimed the voice of his second favorite morning announcer. The girls behind him squealed and gasped.

"Good morning, Kuwahara-kuuun!" they echoed, even though there was no possible way that Jackal could hear them from the broadcasting room. Marui rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, hey everybody!" trumpeted Marui's _first_ favorite morning announcer. This got even more of a reaction from his female peers.

"Kawaii! Kirihara-chan is sooo adorable!" They began to shout and squeal like they did every morning, but they quieted down when the regulars began their announcements.

Marui sighed, nuzzling into his backpack, listening to the calming sound of Jackal's voice reading off the scores of the recent games. Some of the students cheered half-heartedly when they heard their team names being read, but they were, for the most part, indifferent.

"Also," stated Kirihara, obviously eager to butcher the few announcements that Jackal actually trusted him with, "the formal dance is next week, so if you don't have a date, you should probably get one, unless you want to look like a hopeless loser."

Marui smirked, choking back a laugh as the girls behind him burst into a fit of high-pitched giggles. The boys in the room shifted uncomfortably while some rolled their eyes. Quiet arguing could be heard over the PA system.

"Akaya, I told you not to…"

"Oh, don't be such…"

"What did you just call me?"

"Kehehehe…"

"Well," continued Jackal's voice in a slightly nervous tone, "that's all the announcements we have for today, so…"

"Ooh! Jackal, don't forget to tell them about—"

"Why don't _you_ tell them, Akaya? This job is getting so old with you…"

"Oh! Well if that's how you feel, then maybe—"

"Get on with it!"

"There's a special puppet show in the auditorium today at two, performed by regulars of our very own tennis team. The admission fee is 200 yen and goes toward equipment for the team…"

Marui's eye twitched. Puppet show? Why hadn't he gotten this all-important memo? The girl's behind him cried softly this time, seeming about as confused as Marui was.

"Aaand our equipment kinda sucks so… come see the show!"

"Akaya, wrap it up!"

"That's all the news we've got for now, so have a great day!"

There were a few more moments of silence, then the faint sound of an electronic jingling noise.

"That your phone, Jackal?" asked Kirihara. He snorted. "Oh man, did Sanada butt dial you again? Pick up and see if he's doing buchou!"

An eruption of hyper screeches and giggles sounded from the girls behind him, and Marui chortled into his backpack. Their gangly teacher crossed the room and buzzed the office, her face annoyed. "Somebody tell Kuwahara and Kirihara that they forgot to turn the mic off again…"

The whole class burst into laughter as the bell rang. Marui reluctantly pulled himself out of his chair, preparing to drag his barely alive body down the hallway after the rest of his peers, until he felt a slight tug on the sleeve of his uniform. He turned around and stared down at a girl with round glasses and sandy colored pigtails.

He sighed, feeling bad that he couldn't remember her name. "Yeah?"

"Uh, Marui-kun, I was wondering if… you, uh, had a date to the….. uh, the dance… I bought you some, uh… candy…"

"Um," said Marui, pulling the strap of his backpack over his bony shoulder. "I'm kind of… not going."

"O-oh…" He watched as the girl's tiny hands began to tremble, her tears falling to the floor. She sobbed a few times before shoving a box of Pocky into his hands and tearing out of the room. He sighed, feeling kind of bad as he stared down at the candy he was now holding. It was strawberry flavored, his favorite, but he was somehow sick to his stomach. He shoved the box into his bag and walked out of the room and down the hall to his locker. He jiggled the lock clumsily until the door opened, then pulled out his books and closed it, only to see the face of a certain akuma smiling back at him.

He jumped slightly. "H-how did you…"

"Ohayou," he sang cheerfully. Marui couldn't help but notice that his black curls were extra lush and shiny, and he shamefully compared himself to his female classmates.

"Whaddya want, Akaya?" he spat, yanking up his backpack as his kouhai bounced down the hall after him.

"Did ya hear the announcements today?"

Marui nodded. "What's with this puppet show thing?"

Kirihara chuckled. "Are you gonna pay the 200 yen?"

Marui glanced at him, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Then you'll find out at two!"

They both stopped in the hallway, Kirihara laughing. Marui offered him a smile and rolled his eyes playfully, but even that couldn't keep him from reading his mind. The taller boy suddenly frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked, shifting his weight from side to side. Marui shook his head.

"Nothing. It's just that this girl asked me to the dance, and I turned her down. I feel kinda bad, I guess…"

Kirihara's eyes hardened, but his mouth smiled. "No worries. It's not like it was _your _fault…"

"Yeah… Wait, what?" Marui's purple eyes glanced up to meet his kouhai's.

The black-haired boy scoffed. "A dog like Fujiwara… I would say no too."

Fujiwara was the name of the girl, but how had Kirihara known that she'd asked him? It didn't matter to Marui. He rolled his eyes. "Do you always have to be _such_ a jerk?" he asked, causing his kouhai to look offended.

"Um, I—"

"Seriously!" shouted Marui, gaining the attention of a slew of surrounding and gathering students.

"Marui-sempai, I just meant—"

He stomped slightly. He felt like crying and he couldn't figure out why. "You know what, Kirihara? I don't even know why we're friends! In fact, I _hate_ you! You're just a big, conceited jerk!"

Marui turned away from the reddening blush on his friend's face. He turned away from the look of shock and hurt in his green eyes. He turned away from his stiff posture and slack jaw. And then he just kept walking to his next class.

okokokokokokok

"Hey, Jackal…" Marui dug through one of the pockets on his backpack, looking for 200 yen to pay his long-time doubles partner with. He was sitting behind a table just outside the auditorium, messing with a lockbox.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile. "Wanna hang till the show starts?"

Marui shrugged, then crossed to the back of the table and pulled out a chair. "What's it about, anyway?"

Jackal shrugged back as Marui sat down, unwrapping a cube of banana-flavored bubble gum and thrusting it between his teeth. "Who knows," he commented, leaning forward on the table to accept money from a few girls, bouncing up and down in anticipation. "Yanagi wrote the whole thing…"

Marui watched as the girls rushed into the auditorium squealing. There was another outbreak as Yukimura and Sanada walked down the hallway together, their shoulders nearly touching. When they reached Jackal and Marui, Sanada went through the door without paying, and Yukimura leaned his hands on the desk.

"Hi, buchou," they uttered at the same time, and he smiled at them sweetly.

"Have either of you seen Kirihara-kun?" he asked, staring at Jackal in particular. Marui averted his gaze and concentrated on severing the wad of yellow gum in his mouth. "I know he did the announcements this morning…"

"I haven't seen him since then," said Jackal with a shrug, "but I can't imagine him not showing up for this."

Yukimura frowned. "I see…" he said, turning his attention to Marui. "Are you sick, Marui-kun?"

Marui looked up and blushed. "Huh? N-no, why?"

Yukimura shrugged. "I didn't see you at lunch."

"Oh," he said. "I was making up something for physics in the lab." That was a lie. He'd really spent it in the bathroom, feeling too sick to eat.

Yukimura stared him down for an additional minute, his narrow eyes seeming to rip open his soul and scream, _Tell me everything!_ Jackal glanced back and forth between them, until Yukimura finally let up. He smiled and wiggled his fingers, disappearing into the auditorium. Marui let out a deep sigh, releasing the tension that had accumulated over the past sixty seconds.

"What was _that_ all about?" muttered Jackal as he accepted money from the last few students trying to get in.

Marui shrugged. "The show's starting, I think."

Jackal closed the lockbox and smiled. "You're right."

The two filed into the dark auditorium together and sat in a couple chairs near the edge of the room. Marui shook his head, considering how packed the place was for a bound-to-be-crappy puppet show. The dark blue curtains were closed across the front of the stage, and the crowd murmured. Jackal's gaze was fixed on the mass of navy velvet concealing the stage, and Marui found himself wishing he would say something.

He chewed his bubblegum vigorously as the din rose and fell like the ocean's waves, and he felt the voices swallow him. He was drowning in the hundreds of conversations that were being held on every side of him. Tingly, black haze obscured his vision, and a distinct ringing noise accompanied the endless dialogue. He groaned, placing his head between his knees and taking deep breaths as his stomach twisted itself into knots. The worst thing about all of the voices was that none of them were Kirihara's.

He suddenly felt a hand between his shoulder blades, and he automatically flinched. "You okay, Bunta?"

He sat up as the buzz suddenly stopped and there was movement on either side of the stage. "Yeah," he sighed, hugging himself around the waist tightly. The ringing silenced and the dizziness passed.

The audience broke into a round of applause as the members of Rikkai Dai tennis team's invincible pair walked up the steps on either side of the stage. Niou Masaharu was all sunny and beaming while Yagyuu Hiroshi held his firm expression despite the applause. They met eachother in the center of the stage, where there was a microphone attached to a stand. Yagyuu was dressed in an all black, three-piece suit minus the jacket, and Niou in black skinny jeans and a tight black tee. They both wore completely white sneakers, which stood out painfully from the rest of their dark ensembles.

Marui saw Jackal cross his arms over his chest out of the corner of his eyes. "This should be good," he scoffed. Marui couldn't force a smile, even though he knew Jackal would be right.

"Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our puppet show," fizzed Yagyuu's smooth voice over the microphone. "I'd like to thank you all for coming and contributing to our tennis team's fund for new equipment."

The crowd clapped again, and Yagyuu adjusted his glasses and forced a slight smile. Niou beamed and pressed his visibly soft lips to the microphone. "And give it up for our genius director and scriptwriter, Yanagi Renji!" came his voice, entirely too loud, but his fans all erupted into applause anyway. Niou was stylishly rebellious, and that's what everyone loved about him.

He stepped back from the mic and smiled, and Yagyuu stepped forward again. "Please enjoy the show," he growled over the sound system, his voice like low thunder, a welcome change from Niou's energetic shouting on Marui's aching head. He glanced to Niou for approval, who furtively nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. The bespectacled teen leaned over the mic and uttered an extra-sexy, "Adieu."

The girls in the theater all exploded into squeals as Niou grinned and tugged Yagyuu backstage. Marui shook his head, slightly amazed. There was no doubt that the Gentleman and the Trickster were the perfect juxtaposition. A few moments after they had disappeared, the curtains opened onto a long, tall puppet theater.

"This is so _Avenue Q_," giggled a voice from behind them, and both of them turned around the see Yukimura and Sanada in the chairs directly behind them. "Have either of you seen Kirihara-kun yet?" pressed Yukimura. Marui shook his head silently, sinking his nose to the top of his chair as their captain began to groom Sanada fussily.

"I'll text him," offered Jackal, digging through his pocket. "Maybe he's sitting with his classmates…"

"Good morning, class," bellowed what was undeniably Yanagi's voice from the stage, and Marui jumped, whirling around and staring at three puppets, illuminated by blinding spotlights.

"Good mooorning, sensei," echoed two more voices in unison.

"Now, who can tell me what the center of the earth is made of?"

"Peanuts?" asked Yagyuu's blue-skinned puppet. The Gentleman was obviously holding his nose.

The girls in the audience giggled at the lame joke, but Marui could hear some of the more sensible members groan. All he could do was stare at the puppets' heads, which had been nearly cut in half. Inside was gaping black fabric and huge felt tongues. It was making him sick to his stomach.

The show went on in this manner, more lame jokes, fairytales, and Sunday school moral lessons until it was finally the last act. The curtains closed again for the sixth or seventh time, and Marui wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks. He'd been sick for the whole show, just trying to keep his consciousness. One last act. He could definitely sit through this.

The blue velvet curtains jerked away to reveal Kirihara, Yagyuu, and Niou in puppet form, wearing their school uniforms. Fanatic screams and laughter arose from the audience. The puppet regulars refused to continue until their public was quiet.

"Look, Yagyuu," began Puppet Niou in Niou's voice, "it's our good friend Kirihara!"

"Why, yes, it is," replied Puppet Yagyuu in Yagyuu's voice. "He looks lonely…"

Faint laughter. Marui raised an eyebrow at the bouncy, grinning Kirihara puppet. Would he be okay with them making fun of him? "We should go talk to him!" declared Puppet Niou melodramatically as he and his puppet doubles partner "walked" over to Puppet Kirihara.

"You look _lonely,_ Kirihara," said Puppet Yagyuu, then continued, in a lower voice, "Do you want to talk about it?"

More laughs. Marui held his breath as Puppet Kirihara opened his mouth. Maybe _this_ was where his friend had disappeared to. "Well," began Puppet Kirihara in Yanagi's nasally Kirihara knock-off, "I'm just upset because I don't have a date for the homecoming dance next week!" Marui sighed as the girls in the audience made "awwww" sounds—the voice obviously didn't belong to the true Kirihara…

"What?" repeated Puppet Niou incredulously.

"Well, don't worry," chuckled Puppet Yagyuu, "I'm sure that someone will ask you soon…"

"Yeah," added Niou. "Probably someone in _this very room!_"

Puppet Kirihara scanned the room, its wide mouth gaping predatorily. Marui's stomach lurched, and he gagged a little, instinctively slapping a hand over his mouth. Jackal was too busy laughing at the pathetic attempt at comedy to notice.

Suddenly, Puppet Yagyuu dipped below the stage. "N-ne, Niou-kun! Watch where you're putting your hand!" he roared, causing the auditorium to break into wild laughter and fanatic screams.

Niou, however, didn't sound as amused. His puppet replica fell from view as well. "Chill, Yagyuu! It was an accident!" Puppet Kirihara was lowered moments later, and Niou cried out. "S-stop it, get off!"

"Sorry," grunted Yagyuu into his mic, "but there's no room, and I can't see anything!"

"Haa, Hiroshi-kun!" Niou's voice was suddenly high-pitched.

By now, the whole audience was in hysterics. Yanagi had obviously been smart enough to turn his microphone off or otherwise leave the puppet theater. The whole thing was beginning to rock and sway, and it was making Marui seasick. The curtains closed, and Yanagi appeared in front of them, blushing and wearing black slacks, a matching short-sleeved dress shirt under a sweater vest, and the same white sneakers. "So sorry about that, everyone," he chuckled apologetically.

"Ow, Yagyuu, that really hurts!" whined Niou's voice backstage.

"Stop making it sound like I'm—!"

Yagyuu's words were suddenly cut off, and Yanagi breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for coming! Hope you had fun!" he said into the mic on the stand since his had been disabled, along with his co-stars'. He rushed off the stage quickly, and the lights slowly came on in the auditorium. Marui glanced at Jackal, who had stopped laughing to look down at him.

"What's up?" he asked, smudging the tears that were running down his face.

"I really need air," replied Marui, standing up and fanning his face feverishly with both hands.

"Oh," said Jackal, frowning suddenly.

"Look, I'll just be outside for a minute…"

Marui got up and squeezed through the rows of laughing people, then held his breath and rushed out the doors. Once he was outside, he gasped a few times, his head spinning wildly. He clutched a low wall next to the grass outside of the school, then his vision began to blur. His ears were ringing again, much more loudly this time.

He wanted to call for Jackal, but his lips seemed incapable of speech as his whole body broke into a cold sweat. He spit his gum forcefully onto the ground, then dropped to his knees. He heard his phone ringing distantly, and he somehow managed to pull it out of his pocket and glance at the screen. It read, "AKAYA." He tried to hit answer, but instead, he dropped his phone, closed his eyes, and fell onto the ground.

**A/N: **Eleven pages, phew _;… Rikkai Dai deserves more love… Thank you to everyone who read, please review to let me know your thoughts and feelings, or if you want me to continue this! I want to see your soul! Review now!

**Disclaimer: **I don't think I need to tell you that I don't own Prince of Tennis. I also don't think you'd believe me if I said that I did.


	2. CREEPs

**Chapter Warnings: **yaoi/shounen ai

**Pairings: **major AkaBun, minor Platinum, minor SanaYuki

Marui groaned as he tried to lift his head. He felt something soft beneath him and smelled the scent of Febreze every time he inhaled. He opened his eyes and was instantly countered by a glare of light, so he closed them. He wondered if he was in the infirmary.

"Is he awake?" asked a voice, and the image of Puppet Niou popped into his brain, giving him the bad kind of chills.

"I'm not sure… He's moving a little…" replied Puppet Yagyuu. They were hovering over a brick wall with a blue sky and clouds in the background.

Marui instantly forced his eyes open and scrambled into a sitting position on top of the bed, panting. Real Niou and Yagyuu slowly materialized before him, looking a little shocked. Marui ignored them, glancing around at his surroundings and wiping a trail of spit from the side of his face. "Where am I?" he asked quietly. The partners exchanged somewhat cautious stares, and Yagyuu stepped forward, snatching up Marui's hand.

"Please let me check your pulse," he said, falling silent with all the confidence and skill of a real doctor. Niou bounced off in an opposite direction, then returned with a bottle of vitamin-enhanced water.

"Thanks," said Marui as Yagyuu dropped his hand. He accepted the bottle of water from Niou.

"You're welcome," they answered in unison, then glanced at eachother.

"So…" began Marui, peering around the room. It had brick walls, painted a deep blue color, and beige carpeting. Shelves had been pushed against the walls, each housing a different collection—folded blankets, books, DVDs, and medical supplies. There was an old looking Dell model on a messy escritoire, and the small cot with white sheets, supported by a flimsy metal frame, which he was sitting on. He could guess that he was not in the school's infirmary, or even in the _school_. "Is this a storage room?"

Niou pouted and rubbed the back of his head, and Yagyuu simply exhaled deeply. "Of sorts," he replied at length, then extended his hand. "Can you walk?"

Marui batted it away—Yagyuu may have been a nice guy, but he'd always seemed sort of creepy; he wasn't on the top of his list of people to touch—and slid off the cot. "I'm good," he said, although he really wished he had something to eat. However, he wasn't sure where he was and he didn't want to impose on either of his classmates.

Niou winked at him. "Then we'll show you our headquarters!" He bounced over to the narrow, black door and placed his hand on the shiny chrome knob. "Ready for this?"

"_Headquarters?_" asked Marui, glaring up at Yagyuu. The Gentleman didn't seem to have anything to say about it, and Niou giggled as he twisted the knob.

The door opened onto a spacious room with the same color scheme as the storage room. Two suede couches with a rectangular coffee table between them occupied the center of the room, and a large sound system was pushed up against the wall behind them. On the left wall, there were two tall windows and a glass door, all obscured by deep red blinds. On the right side of a room, a wall jutted out and formed a hallway that Marui couldn't readily see down. Marui couldn't help the frown that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "This is Yagyuu's basement," he deadpanned.

"Yeah…" began Niou in an open-ended tone that made him sound like he was discussing the pros and cons of his elective options, "…but it's _also_ our headquarters!" Yagyuu sat down on one of the couches, and Niou immediately occupied his lap. Marui crossed his arms tightly over his chest and sat on the piece of furniture opposite them.

"What do you mean, headquarters?" he pressed impatiently as Yagyuu rolled Niou off of him.

"We have an important matter to discuss with you," explained Yagyuu in a serious tone, but Marui had a feeling that the nonsensical conversation that would inevitably ensue would be everything but serious. "Something very important."

Marui frowned. "I'm not staying here," he said, rising slowly out of his seat.

"Why not?" demanded Niou with a grin, fingering the perfectly placed beauty mark on his chin. His expression unnerved Marui, and he clenched his fists.

"Not unless you tell me what's going on," he said through his teeth, eager to hold his ground. Above all, he was creeped out.

Niou glanced at Yagyuu, but he retained his grin. "It's a secret." Marui didn't want to hear it. He rose fully and began to walk towards the hallway leading out of the basement and ultimately, out of Yagyuu's home. "Wait!" shouted Niou, his expression suddenly not all-smiley. He stood up and grabbed Marui's wrist roughly, and Yagyuu didn't seem the least bit startled.

"Please sit," Yagyuu said, and Marui felt compelled by his deep, polite voice (and Niou's painful death-grip) to do so. Niou sighed and flopped back down next to Yagyuu, a bit closer this time. "You can at least hear us out…"

Marui folded his arms and leaned his head slightly to the side to give himself an air of impatience to make the pair think that he didn't have time to be there. Yagyuu stole a glance at Niou, whose head was currently hung over the back of the couch, his hands threaded through his hair. The Trickster had obviously caught him staring out of the corner of his eye and pinched his side playfully. Yagyuu twitched at the contact before continuing, "This is about the formal next Friday."

Marui frowned. "Yeah? So? What about it?" he asked, trying to seem like he didn't care as he brushed nonexistent dust off the shoulder of his uniform shirt. He didn't exactly want to hear the answer.

"You—" began Yagyuu, but Niou sat up and straight-armed his chest gently, cutting him off. He obviously had a slyer way of putting what Yagyuu would've said flat out.

"Are you going, Marui-kun?"

Marui's eyes locked onto Niou's turquoise. They flickered, and Marui couldn't read his face whatsoever. His mouth was a straight line, slightly curled upwards at either end, and his expression was so horribly honest that Marui _knew_ he had to be faking it. He narrowed his eyes as he continued to hold Niou's gaze, but the Trickster was inscrutable. It rattled Marui that he probably knew his every thought at that moment, despite the fact that Niou was a total enigma to him.

He glanced to Yagyuu, too weak to continue the intense staring contest with Niou. He was just gazing at Marui, but not really gazing _at_ him, as if his mind was off someplace else. Niou was waiting for an answer, and Marui was frantically searching his mind for something to say that would keep Niou from reading him like an open book.

"I don't want to," was the best he could come up with as he squirmed and averted his gaze to the plush carpet.

Niou chuckled. "Why not?" he nearly shouted, bringing Marui's attention back to him like a yoyo. He was beaming enthusiastically, and even Yagyuu was staring at him, his eyebrows knit and his lips parted questioningly. Niou turned his head to Yagyuu and winked, but he was looking at Marui. That gesture caused him to panic.

_Did he_ want _me to see that wink? Or is that just some strategy to psych me out or something? Is Yagyuu confused, or is he just playing dumb to trick me? Does Niou really want to talk about the dance? Why did they bring me here in the first place?_ His wide, lavender eyes darted around the room as he searched for some explanation. Why did Niou have to say such confusing things? What did he want?

"I just don't," he replied hastily, trying his best not to sound defensive. Niou brought his vehement eyes back to Marui's examined him for a few seconds, then laughed easily. It relaxed Marui.

"I'm done with him," he said offhandedly, seemingly more to himself than to Yagyuu or Marui, and the redhead grimaced. The ease was suddenly gone, and he had begun to sweat. "Tell him what's going on, Hiroshi…" Niou reassumed his earlier position, a nerve-racking grin plastered to his mouth. Marui felt much safer with Yagyuu in control.

The teen rolled back his built shoulders and cleared his throat slightly before he spoke. "Niou and I would like it if you attended the formal," he stated in a clear, public-speaking voice.

Marui knit his thin eyebrows. "Why?" he asked, wiping his hands on his slacks before he clutched at them tightly. It was helping him burn off nervous energy.

Yagyuu lowered his voice slightly. "There's someone we'd like you to go with…" His dark eyes glanced to Niou, but the Trickster didn't move an inch. First, Marui was under the impression that he'd abandoned the project, leaving his partner in charge, but then he began to consider the possibility of Yagyuu being the dominating force behind this whole thing.

"You want me to go to the dance with someone?" asked Marui, and his nervousness began to disappear as Niou sat back up and leaned his head on Yagyuu's shoulders, his face more innocent than it had been. The self-proclaimed genius dropped his shoulders. "Who?"

Niou grinned and his eyes brightened. "Akaya," he purred, squeezing Yagyuu affectionately around the shoulders. As usual, the Gentleman failed to respond.

Marui felt color tint his cheeks. "You want me to go to the dance with Akaya?" he roared, feeling his stomach tighten. "Why?"

"It's our sworn duty," pledged Yagyuu, his voice swelling with allegiance. "As the Committee Responsible for the Establishment of Excellent Pairs."

"Whhhat_?_" demanded Marui, challenging Yagyuu to repeat that in the same solemn tone. The Gentleman's face didn't even twitch, and Niou was equally serious.

"CREEP, for short…" he said without even a grin.

Marui's eyes bulged as he stared back at them incredulously. "So lemme get this straight," he began deliberately. "You have some secret organization called _CREEP_, and this is your headquarters, and you've kidnapped me to try to talk me into going to the formal with Kirihara…" He shot up out of his seat, fuming. "You guys have gone too far this time! I'm going home!"

To his surprise, neither of them tried to stop him as he made a b-line for the door. Yagyuu didn't even offer to show him the way out. As he wrapped his thin fingers around the knob, he heard a sound that chilled him to his very core.

"You'll be back," called Yagyuu in such a dark voice that it made Marui swoon.

"Yup," agreed Niou, and Marui could just see his smirk as he leaned back against the overstuffed, suede couch. "One way or another…"

Marui paused as their poisonous tones seeped into his skin like a freezing rainstorm. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pushed the door open.

okokokokokokok

Kirihara Akaya sat in the grass outside of his house, turning his cell phone over in his hands. His head ached, and the warm sun beating down on him, making him sweat, made him feel like a lizard under a heat lamp. The only problem was that he was warm-blooded. He watched the light glare off his cracked, chipped Motorola and wondered why Marui hadn't answered the phone. Was he really that mad at him?

Kirihara let out an exasperated sigh and knit his eyebrows, pushing back his sweaty bangs. Had he really come home early so he could lose ten pounds stressing about Marui? _Just call him again… _said the little voice in his head, but he shook his head fiercely.

"No! It's pathetic!" he responded out loud. "What if he just doesn't pick up again?" He fluffed up his black curls and tugged his knees to his chest, burying his nose in the slight gap between them.

_It's worth a try…_ Kirihara looked up as he felt a cool breeze drying the sweat that had accumulated on his skin. He'd already changed twice, but his face was still flushed and his hair and skin were still wet. He replayed that morning's events over and over again in his mind before flipping open his cellphone.

_Why do you always have to be such a jerk?_ His fingers trembled slightly as he dialed the first number to Marui's phone number. _I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!_ He thought of the frustrated look on the redhead's face—he'd never seen him look so distraught. He hit end and closed his battered Razr. He was about to throw it down when it gave a single ring.

His green eyes brightened as he flipped it open and brought it to his ear, his whole body pulsating. "Hello?" he asked breathlessly as his heart jumped into his throat.

"Akaya? You okay?" asked Jackal's voice from the other end. Kirihara felt reluctant disappointment bring his hormones down.

"Whaddaya want, Jackal?" he sighed, feeling anger build inside of him.

"Well… I was just wondering if you'd seen Marui. He got sick during the assembly and ran outside. I thought maybe he went home, but he left all his stuff here… I keep calling, but no one picks up…"

Kirihara jumped up. "What? He doesn't have his phone?" he barked into his cellphone. "Jackal, why'd you leave him alone if he was _sick?_"

Jackal scoffed. "Well, he said he'd be _fine_…"

"Where is he?" demanded the akuma before Jackal could say any further words to defend himself. "Where? Where is he, Jackal?"

"I'll check with the other regulars. You go to his house."

"Right, okay."

Kirihara hung up and pocketed his cell phone, then jumped on the bike leaned against his house. His heart was still pounding, and his tongue felt dry and gritty, like he'd just tried to swallow a mouthful of sand. He wanted to pull over and puke, but instead, he rode as fast as he could down the street. He was almost hit by a car on two separate occasions, but he managed to make it to Marui's house in one piece.

He jumped off his bike while it was still moving, tossing it onto Marui's yard and racing to the door. He was panting, and his heart was pounding, and he was nervous beyond all reason. His insides were all twisted into one, gigantic throbbing organ, and he looked equally messy on the outside. There were beads of sweat dripping from his face and hair, like he was raining.

He knocked on the door fiercely and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. It wasn't hot enough for him to be sweating like this—there was obviously something wrong. A tiny woman answered the door and stared up at him. Her face was completely blasé, and it was obvious that she didn't care about the sweaty young man who had just smashed his bike into her grass.

"Hi, uh, is Bunta home?" he asked, forcing his voice to sound patient.

"Sure," she replied without even a smile. She moved aside to let him in, but he shook his head.

"It's all right. I just wanted to… talk to him for a minute."

She turned away and called her son loudly, and Kirihara heard the scuffle of slippers on a hardwood floor. Marui appeared in the hallway behind her, peering curiously at the front door. He approached them slowly, cautiously, staring at him as if it was the first time he'd ever seen him. Kirihara swallowed and tried to breathe, suddenly acutely aware of every one he took. Finally, Marui spoke.

"It's okay, Mom," he said, and his mother moved back into the house. Kirihara felt Marui's eyes on him as he watched his mother disappear into the hallway. Once she was gone, he took a deep breath and forced to eyes to look at Marui.

His arms were crossed over his chest, and his skin was pale and washed out. It was eerily quiet with the absence of bubblegum chewing and popping, and Marui's eyes were dull, but expectant, impatient. Kirihara immediately felt the urge to reach out and touch his poor, tired face. He wanted to ask what happened, but Marui beat him to it.

"Why are you so sweaty?" he inquired with a tone of faint amusement. Kirihara shrugged. The silences that filled the spaces between their words were remorseful, like the way a newly divorced couple speaks to eachother. Kirihara shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Are you okay?" he asked him quietly, and Marui nodded. There was silence again, and Kirihara rubbed the back of his head, tugging the wet curls and staring at a tree in his friend's yard. He let out a deep sigh, then looked into Marui's eyes. A chill rushed through his body—Marui was staring back at him intensely. Kirihara felt the blood rush to his face. There was suddenly an attraction that had never been there before…

"Why did you come?" he asked flatly, and Kirihara detected the resentment in his voice.

"To check on you," he muttered, staring at his dirty red sneakers. "Jackal said he couldn't get a hold of you, and I was worried."

"Well, don't worry," said Marui as he reopened the door to his house and stepped inside. "I'm fine."

It slammed on Kirihara's face with no warning whatsoever, and a need to quell his rejection by torturing lowerclassmen was suddenly prevalent. He moped back to his bike, got on, and rode home.

okokokokokokok

Niou Masaharu leaned over the back of Yagyuu's couch, dangling Marui's cell by its fruit and cake-shaped charms. "What _now?_" he sighed as his eyes followed the pink phone back and forth, like the patient of a hypnotist. He heard Yagyuu scoff gently.

"You were so confident a while ago," he commented fondly, and Niou blushed slightly, sinking into the space beside him.

"So were you!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Gentleman.

Yagyuu frowned wryly, wrapping his hand around Niou's and pushing it down. "It's _rude_ to point," he observed. Niou stuck his tongue out at him in pure frustration. A momentary silence fell over the partners, before the Gentleman spoke again. "What are you going to do with _that?_" Yagyuu gestured to the phone in his hand.

"Oh. I forgot to give it back," Niou said, glancing at the object in question. "I'll probably just give it to him tomorrow in school…" He looked back to Yagyuu, who was smiling dubiously. To see his partner making a face like that gave him chills. "What?" he asked cautiously.

"Don't give it back. We can hold Marui hostage…" The dark-haired boy chuckled deviously, and Niou slid away, grimacing, as his laughter escalated.

"Y-Yagyuu, you're scaring me!"

okokokokokokok

Yanagi grinned as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. "That's amazing," he commented thoughtfully, leaning forward to scratch the latest failed undertaking off of the marker board that hung on the wall next to his iMac. He chuckled softly into the phone as he listened to the whiny voice on the other end prattle on.

"It was _my_ idea," said Niou sarcastically, and Yanagi could just hear his giant grin as Yagyuu inevitably shot him an angry glare.

"Don't do anything yet," urged Yanagi, sensing that Niou was becoming too excited. "Let me handle this. We have to ensure that our plan is successful when it comes to fruition…"

"Uh… Whatever you say, Renji…"

Yanagi smiled and set the handheld phone gently into its cradle, then folded his hands and leaned his chin on them, gazing at the words scrawled on his marker board. The possibilities ghosted through his mind, and he suddenly found himself frowning at his odds. Under the section named matchMAKERs (Marui And Kirihara Emotion Reinforcement) were the names of Rikkai Dai's invincible pair. He sighed.

"As the schism between Kirihara-kun and Marui-kun becomes more severe," he began, typing notes into his iMac deftly, "the expectation of the fulfillment of my ultimate goal decreases… I must find a way to end the conflict between them…" He stared mournfully at Niou and Yagyuu's names scribbled over his marker board, then turned back to his computer monitor.

"Presently, my current proxies are doing all they can, but it has occured to me that the circumstances could possibly be unattainable for them alone… I am going to acquire additional resources…"

Yanagi took his hands away from the keyboard and cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders back. The corners of his lips pulled up into a deviant smile. "It's time to call for some backup."

**A/N: **Hooray for the second chapter! Thank you very much to all my lovely reviewers. Thanks again for reading this!

**Disclaimer: **I don't think I need to tell you that I don't own Prince of Tennis. I also don't think you'd believe me if I said that I did.


	3. The Closet of Doom: loves me not!

**Pairings: **minor AkaBun, minor SanaYuki, minor Platinum

**Chapter Warnings: **shounen ai/yaoi

Marui perched on the rusty swing set in the tiny, secluded park located only two blocks from his house, picking apart a daisy. That day at school had been the worst possible day—he was sure that he'd failed his biology exams, he'd forgotten his lunch at home, he had a missing cell phone, and on top of everything, Kirihara had been absent.

"I was too hard on him," said Marui as he let one of the white petals drift the ground. "I wasn't too hard on him." He plucked another from the flower and shook it off his finger. "I was too hard on him… I wasn't too hard on him… I was too hard on him…" The redhead stopped picking and slumped his shoulders forward, grinding his toes into the dirt at his feet. There were only two petals left, and he knew what the result would be. He sighed, chucking the mangled weed behind him in frustration and burying his head in his hands.

"Why am I even mad at him?" he asked himself quietly. "It's not like I even _knew _that girl…" He put himself in her position. If he asked Kirihara to go to the formal, would _he_ turn him down and insult him? Marui buried his hand in his hair and raked his fingers through it roughly, stopping at the tips to glance over for split ends. Why, in his fantasy, was he asking _Kirihara_ to the dance? _Because of the Creeps. _His mind was quick to defend him.

But it was true, of course. The Creeps were the ones who had put that ridiculous notion in his head in the first place… and if that was the case, why was he presently picking apart another daisy, mumbling the words, "He loves me not… He loves me?" He felt a chill run through him, and he jumped up, threw the flower on the ground and trampled it in frustration.

His eyes were fixated on his pink and white Puma, and he couldn't resist the urge to move it out of the way and stare at the number of petals left on the flower's yellow face. A warm burst of happiness rushed through his system at the answer, but he refused to let his pouty expression change.

Because as hard as he tried, he couldn't keep his heart from smiling.

okokokokokokok

"I'm home," Marui called softly to no one in particular as he opened his front door and stepped inside. He rolled his eyes at the sound of his brothers screaming in unison, holding one of their regular loudness competitions. "I swear…" he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and considering every only child he'd ever known lucky, then walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, Mom," he greeted evenly as he leaned over one of the counters and popped his gum. "What's for dinner?"

"Someone called looking for you," she mumbled at the sink where she stood, washing dishes.

Marui felt his pulse instantly sky rocket at the possibility that Kirihara had contacted him, and he pinched his wrist mildly, chastising himself for getting so worked up. "Who?" His voice was drowned out by the heartbeat in his ears.

"Umm." She raised her voice slightly over the clang of the dishes and the hiss of the running water, but still didn't bother to look at her son. "Someone from school… Niou-kun. He says he has your cell phone…"

Marui breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was _one_ problem solved, and besides, once he got his phone back, he could check for messages from Kirihara. "Thanks, Mom," he said, trying to sound calm despite the fact that he wanted to make a dash for the phone. "I'd better call him now."

"Mm-hmm…"

Marui forced his wobbly legs to walk towards the phone, digging his fingernails into his arm to punish himself. He was acting like a horny little schoolgirl over _Kirihara_. Those damned Creeps had brainwashed him so that he was the only thing he could only think about! Speaking of the Creeps, they had been oddly quiet that day at school…

He didn't give it a second thought as he dialed Niou's cell. The phone rang three times, and Marui began to tap his foot impatiently, knowing all too well that Niou was toying with him. "Masa," came his smug voice after five rings. Marui frowned into the phone.

"Hey, Niou. It's Marui," he began, squeezing the phone a little tighter. "I'm calling about my cell phone…"

"Oh, sure. Do you mind coming to pick it up?" His voice sounded completely friendly and innocent, which didn't necessarily mean anything coming from Niou. He could still be up to something.

"No," he replied. "Can I come over now?"

"Anytime you're ready," Niou purred before the dial tone blared in his ear. Marui sucked in his bottom lip and scraped off the traces of sugar with his teeth, then put the phone back in the cradle.

"Mom, I'm going to Niou's okay? I'll be back for dinner…" Marui slipped back into his shoes before even waiting for his mother to reply. He fast-walked down the street because he didn't want to run, but the longer it took him, the more time he had to obsess over Kirihara. His chest tightened and his heart began to pound faster and faster. He couldn't stand being so nervous, so he took deep breaths, _held_ his breath, tried to think of other things, tried to think of what he would say when he saw him next, but nothing helped.

When he arrived at Niou's house, he was dizzy. He wrung his hands as he stared at the huge, modern A-frame. He inhaled the aroma of flowering trees as he walked up the rustic stone path to the low front porch, up the steps towards the door, then knocked. No one answered. Niou's home was beautiful, but Marui couldn't help feeling like he lived alone. He rang the doorbell this time, and finally, someone answered the door. Piercing grey eyes stared back at him, and Marui was immediately taken aback by the handsome features.

"Y-Yagyuu?" he stammered, running a hand through his hair. "Where are your glasses?"

He rolled his eyes. "Niou's _borrowing_ them. Come in," Yagyuu stepped aside, and Marui filed into the cold, museum-like house. He glanced around before he followed Yagyuu up the staircase silently. Soon they reached a closed door, which the Gentleman opened without even knocking. Marui knew that this was Niou's bedroom.

It was a wide room with pale hardwood floors and only a bed, a dresser, a desk housing an HP laptop, and a closet. The walls were painted a deep purple, and the curtains drawn over the two wide windows were black, making the floor look like moonlit desert sand. There were two tall lamps on either side of his bed resembling sickly, petrified trees. Several mirrors differing in size hung on the walls, giving the room a creepy funhouse feel.

Bottles of cologne, cute knickknacks, and a few framed pictures of various Rikkai Dai regulars cluttered his black dresser, and wacky stuffed animals were nestled on his black duvet cover. A few notebooks were scattered over the floor, which bespectacled Niou raced to scoop up. He tossed them haphazardly at Yanagi, who was perched on the edge of the bed, smiling and clutching one of his dolls by the hand.

"Welcome, Bunta-chan," Niou said in a wannabe-creepy voice. Marui scoffed at the white, satin bathrobe that covered his hands up to his fingertips. He was obviously going for the mad-scientist look, which was better suited for Yanagi.

"Niou, can I have my glasses back?" murmured Yagyuu from Marui's side at the door. Niou crossed his arms and pouted at his counterpart.

"I'm you right now," he whined. "Now spike your hair and be me." Niou pointed to his dresser with his chin, where he was obviously keeping hair gel. He turned back to Marui with a cheesy-polite grin, and Yagyuu rolled his eyes and folded his arms impatiently.

Marui glanced at Yanagi, who simply held up his hand in greeting. "Um." He nervously scanned the room, searching for his cell phone. "I need to get back home for dinner… Can I just have my phone?"

Yagyuu's glasses gleamed. "Oh, you'll get your phone," chuckled Niou darkly, before he gestured to his closet door. "As soon as you see my _latest creation!_"

"_My _latest creation," corrected Yanagi, hopping down from Niou's bed and sauntering over to the closet. "Venture through the Closet of Doom!" The two exchanged glances and snickered, and Marui eyed the door warily.

"It looks like a regular closet," he remarked flatly.

Niou smirked and snapped his fingers a few times. "Well, then you should have no problem…" He twisted the knob and gave a tiny pull, causing the door to swing open slowly on its own with a sinister creek, revealing only darkness. Suddenly, from inside the abyss of the Closet of Doom and Niou's jackets, Marui's cell phone began to ring. "Go on…" purred Niou into his ear, and Marui instinctively swatted him away.

He glanced to who was possibly the only sane person in the room, Yagyuu, but his eyes were just glued to Niou to ensure that no harm befell his precious glasses (or maybe he was just checking him out—one could never be sure). Marui felt his palms sweating, but he wiped them defiantly on his jeans.

_There's nothing to be scared of. It's just Niou and Yanagi and Yagyuu, and a stupid closet. There's nothing to be scared of there's nothing to be scared of there's nothing to be scared of… _If there was nothing to be scared of, then why was his heart beating so quickly? A second ring beckoned him to step over the threshold of the closet. He held his hands out in front of him as if he were blind, and he shortly reached the back wall. The screen of his cell phone was glowing on the floor with a number one.

His heartbeat suddenly became so much quicker, and that number had never looked better. Kirihara had texted him! He reached down to pick it up when he heard a deafening metallic clang. He squinted as lights flashed on, and he looked around at Niou's jackets. He parted them and stared at the set of bars that had been closed in front of the entrance. He dropped his cell phone angrily and wrapped his hands around the bars. "What the hell?" he demanded, glaring at Yanagi, who was holding a remote control.

"I modified Niou's closet with a gate of steel bars," he explained like an overly proud mommy. "Operation KRAB will now commence."

Niou bounced up and down and giggled evilly, and Yagyuu simply stared into the closet blankly, his hands hanging by his sides. Marui rattled the bars defiantly. "Let me out!" he exclaimed, then began to tear Niou's clothes from the hangers. This was _beyond_ outrageous, even for those three. After his outburst, he sat down on the pile of clothes on Niou's closet floor, kindergarten style and checked the message. It wasn't even from Kirihara. "Operation _KRAB?_" Images of the sharp, spiny sea creature popped into his brain.

"Kirihara Rescues the Abducted Bunta," Yanagi explained, grinning.

"Niou!" erupted Yagyuu's deep voice suddenly, and all three parties turned to him in surprise.

"Whhhat?" asked Niou, slapping his hand over his heart. "You scared me!"

"Glasses," Yagyuu practically growled, and Niou smirked at him, striking a sexy pose against the wall. The Gentleman blushed.

"_Make. Me._" His seductive ease made Marui jealous, and Yagyuu instantly began to chase the giggling Niou around the room.

Yanagi ignored them, laced his fingers together, and stretched his arms out in front of him. His knuckles made a cracking sound that should've been threatening, but coming from Yanagi it had little effect. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Marui sighed, frustrated. "Whatever will get me out of here the fastest…"

Yanagi gave a single clap. "Goodie!" he exclaimed, bending down and thrusting a piece of paper through the bars. "Now, call Kirihara, and read what's in the script…"

The redhead rolled his eyes. As he scanned over the words, his blush became deeper and deeper. Finally, he closed his eyes, unable to go on. "No way," he said, holding his arm out as if Yanagi's script was a stinky chunk of garbage. "This makes me sound like a total _girl!_"

"That's exactly what Kirihara will love about it…." Yanagi chuckled darkly, then turned around. Marui looked too, to see Yagyuu straddling Niou, having successfully pinned him down. He wasn't even taking his glasses back. He looked so smitten with Niou…

Marui popped his gum in determination. He was sure that he'd do anything to get Kirihara to look at him like that. "Fine," he said, his heart rate picking up despite his resolution, "I'll do it. Anything to get out of here." Only he knew the real reason for his sudden willingness to cooperate.

okokokokokokok

The sun reluctantly crept towards the west as its beams were muffled in the dark blue curtains. If someone looked inside that room, all over the floor, they would've seen dresser drawers, broken glass, sheets of crumpled and torn paper, and the trashed belongings of an almost-fourteen-year-old boy.

The tiny, cluttered room was dark and seemingly void of human life forms, but the rising and falling of the earthy-plaid, scratchy blanket on the bed gave away the denizen's presence. Kirihara Akaya lay asleep, streaks of tears and snot and drool staining his face. Light snores resonated through the room, and Kirihara's hands unconsciously gripped the sheets. At that moment in time, he wasn't in his depressing reality. He had managed to escape to a different place.

He stood in an all-white hotel suite, wearing a white suit, grinning. Marui lay on the enormous bed before him, dressed in a beautiful wedding gown, smiling seductively at him. His face was sparkly, and his lips were bright red. "Akaya," he breathed softly, trailing his fingers slowly up his leg and then over his hip and up his chest. "Help me take this off…"

Kirihara grinned even wider and stumbled towards the bed, but he tripped and fell headlong into the carpet. He awoke with a gasp and sat up, tasting blood. He rubbed his hand over his upper lip and stared at the blood on the back of his hand. "Kuso!" he cursed his bleeding nose, then reached over to grab a tissue. He jumped at the sound of his phone ringing. Why had he almost had a wet dream about Marui? Whyyy? He reached over and grabbed his phone from his bedside table. "Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Akaya…" came a piteous voice on the other line.

"M… Marui?" he asked incredulously. Was he still dreaming or what?

"Please, Akaya… I _need_ you," he gasped, and Kirihara felt more blood gush out of his nose. He grabbed another tissue to control the flow. "I'm really, really scared…" There was a pause here as he sniffed. "Please help me… Akaya, please… A-Aka-ya…" He broke down into tears, and Kirihara jumped out of bed, whipping things off the floor in a frenzy to find something clean to wear.

"Wh-where are you?" he demanded in a panic. "D-don't cry, Marui!"

"I… I'm at Niou's house… He won't let me leave… Yagyuu says he's going to…" There was an odd snickering, hissing sound in the background, a thud, and what sounded like a giggle. "He's going to do things to me…"

Two voices exploded into laughter on the other line, and Kirihara stiffened with jealousy. "What is that?" he asked, but he didn't really care. All he could think of was someone _else_ touching _his_ Marui. Hold on… Since when did Marui become his?

"I-it's Yanagi and Niou…" Marui's voice sounded strained. "They're laughing at my… misery…" He sobbed a few more times, and Yanagi and Niou roared in hysterics.

"No!" Kirihara exclaimed as he hopped on one foot, trying to pull on his shoe. "Look, it's all right, Marui. Just don't let them do anything to you, okay? I'll be there in five minutes!"

"Hn… okay… Please hurry…" There was a pause, more suppressed laughter, a groan of protest. "Yagyuu's taking his clothes off…"

The line went dead, and Kirihara almost dropped his cell. He managed to close it and pocket it, then dashed out of his house. There was no way that he was going to let Yagyuu touched _his_ Marui. No matter how uncharacteristic it seemed.

okokokokokokok

"Where's Marui?" Kirihara exclaimed as he burst through Niou's bedroom door. "What'd you do to him?"

"The Closet of Doom," said Renji as he stood in front of Kirihara, blocking his view. Niou tittered from where he sat on his bed, clutching a nondescript pile of clothing.

"Closet of Doom?" Kirihara whipped his head around, trying to see what exactly was going on. Yagyuu sat beside Niou on his bed in his underwear, his no-doubt red face buried in his hands, as if he'd been forced to commit some heinous crime. Kirihara frowned—there was something weird about the whole thing. He walked slowly over to the set of bars in front of Niou's closet door where Marui sat inside on a haphazard pile of clothes, looking unharmed and completely bored.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly, looking down at Marui and wrapping his fingers around the cold, shiny bars.

Marui tilted his head towards Yagyuu. "Look," he said. "I told you he was taking his clothes off…" He snorted, and Niou's laughter increased.

"You lied to me…" murmured Kirihara, staring mournfully down at Marui.

Marui's face softened as he felt a wave of guilt. Kirihara sounded so preciously defeated. He jumped onto his feet and reached out to touch him, but Kirihara instantly took a step back. "N-no, it's not what you think…"

"You lied…" He turned his face away—his eyes were dark.

"A-Akaya," urged Marui, stretching his arm as far as he could to try to reach him. "Akaya, no!"

Kirihara opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Yagyuu's voice. "This is humiliating!" he shouted suddenly, snatching his jeans back from Niou and pulling them over his muscular underwear model legs. Yanagi turned to look at them, but Kirihara didn't seem to care about the drama unfolding before him. He walked out the door without even uttering a goodbye.

"Akaya, wait!" begged Marui, rattling the bars. "Yanagi, let me _OUT!_"

"Y-Yagyuu, what?" asked Niou, standing motionless as Yagyuu tore his Polo button down out of his hands.

"I'm sick of you bossing me around, Niou! I'm done! I'm going home, and if you're lucky, I'll see you tomorrow." He stormed out of the room without even buttoning up his shirt.

"Hiroshi, don't go!" Niou practically fell off the bed and dashed out the door after his double's partner.

"Yanagi!" shouted Marui, shaking the bars fiercely. "Open up!"

Yanagi hit a button without changing the stunned expression on his face. His eyes were wide open, but he slowly closed them as soon as what just happened had registered. He knitted his eyebrows. "Operation KRAB is a failure…" he muttered, dropping his remote and burying his face in his hands. "In more than one way…"

Marui gave a pity-sigh and walked over to set his hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean, Yanagi?" he asked quietly despite the fact that he wanted to cry.

"Not only have I worsened the emotional rift between you and Akaya, but I've destroyed Yagyuu and Niou's relationship as well," he moaned. "This is a major setback for the committee…"

Marui's eyes widened in revelation. "Wait. You mean you're trying to get Yagyuu and Niou to…"

Yanagi looked up with a grin. "Naturally."

Marui couldn't help but to break into a smile. It felt good to know that he wasn't the only one being duped. Niou suddenly burst into the room, tears streaking his face. He collapsed onto his bed, sobbing. Marui couldn't stop the slight chuckle that escaped his smooth lips—Niou was still in the bathrobe. Yanagi sat down beside him and rubbed his back. "What happened?" he asked patiently in a mom-tone.

Niou's fingernails dug into one of his outlandish dolls and took a deep, gasping breath. "He said he hated me and he didn't wanna be friends anymore and he wants to quit the tennis team and he never wants to see me again and that I'm a bitch and… and… and…!" Niou wailed loudly, and Yanagi's mouth hung open.

"You have to be kidding…" he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else in the room. "He called you a bitch?"

"Well… maybe not in those exact words…" sniffed Niou, sitting up and clutching Yanagi around the waist for all he was worth. "But that's what he meant, I know it!"

"We need to regroup," sighed Yanagi. "Niou, be at my house in a half hour to discuss our next plan of action. I'll try to get Yagyuu to come."

Niou turned to Marui as Yanagi got up to leave. "You better bring _your_ sorry ass, too," he said hostilely. "This is all your fault, after all…"

Marui didn't say anything. He just followed Yanagi out the door, knowing better than to heat someone up who had just been burned.

okokokokokokok

"That's brutal," muttered Jackal, licking a precarious drop of juice that was making it's way slowly towards his hand.

"Tell me about it…" sighed Marui, biting into the flat rectangular strawberry-banana popsicle. It hurt his teeth and made his brain freeze, but he didn't care. He had just ditched the CREEP meeting and given his doubles partner his whole sob story of a day, and he needed a good way to punish himself for his pathetic antics. "Now he hates me…"

He leaned further over the pole fence that separated him and Jackal from the sky and the tiny ant people on the streets and peeled off part of the chipping, red paint. They were on the lofty roof of a department store, and Marui was seriously contemplating taking the jump. Jackal clamped his pokey hand down on his trapezius muscle and dug his fingers into it. He pulled him back and looked at him expectantly, angling his head slightly.

Marui took a little step back, popped his treat in his mouth and sucked it. He turned his purple eyes innocently to meet Jackal's, and his best friend returned it with a grin. He closed his eyes, hung his head and giggled slightly. It was nice to be with someone normal for a change.

"Bunta," he began, staring out at the blue sky and licking the red-orangey ice cream in his hand. He smiled thoughtfully. "Let's hit the beach this weekend."

Marui blinked once. "The beach?" he asked, and Jackal nodded.

"Yeah. We'll bring everyone. It'll be fun…"

When Jackal said the word _everyone_, Marui instantly thought of Kirihara. Not of any of the crazy things that had been going on for the past few days, but just Kirihara. His eyes, his hair, his lips, his smile, his skin, his voice, his smell, the way he walked and talked and dressed and played tennis and said his name. It made him happy, but it also brought tears to his eyes. "Akaya," he whispered softly, and Jackal glanced down at him.

"Huh?" he asked, slurping the rest of his popsicle off the soggy stick.

Marui smiled genuinely. "Sounds great."

Jackal smiled back, seeming pleased that Marui finally looked happy. "Well… I better get going. I'll call you later."

Jackal slapped him on the shoulder, then made his way towards the elevator that would take him back down to the floor level. Marui slowly leaned back over the gate. The melting, pink juice from his ice cream dripped off steadily and rained down over the edge, and Marui smiled sweetly as he cried with it.

"Akaya..."

**A/N: **Another chapter! It's a new record! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement—my public means everything to me! Please review, my honeys, show me your soul!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Prince of Tennis and I never ever will!


	4. Dear Diary

**Pairings: **major AkaBun, minor Platinum, minor SanaYuki, minor Data

**Chapter Warnings: **yaoi/shounen ai

Yukimura Seiichi smiled as he caressed the petals of the pink roses softly and giggled, then reached toward his tape recorder and pressed the RECORD button with his slender, pale finger. "Dear Diary…" he began, tapping his chin slightly in thought as he lay on his stomach, crossing and uncrossing his ankles. "Why must I be cursed with such beauty?"

He stared at the tiny piece of cardboard that he'd plucked from the flowers, and read it again with a slight frown. "Yukimura-chan," he read aloud, "I hope you like the flowers. They're pink, your favorite color…" His delicate eyebrows crinkled.

"Must not be anyone who knows me," he said, dating the card with a skinny purple Sharpie. "My favorite color is _blue_." He sighed, as if it was the most obvious mistake ever made, then tossed the card into the shoebox he'd marked, "Anonymous Love Notes". He sighed, pushing the box aside disdainfully and rolling onto his back.

Then he sat up, stood up, tightened his short ponytail, tied his peach Juicy sweats, and padded across his pure white carpet to his closet. He stood on his tiptoes and pulled out another shoebox, this one honestly labeled, "Things I Stole from Genichirou". He flipped the lid onto the carpet and stared mournfully at the various writing utensils, a handkerchief, a pair of old fingerless gloves, and the extra key to his house, which Genichirou had "lost" one day.

Yukimura sighed, pulled out the key and let the rest of the box clatter to the floor in what was a genuine slip of his limp hand. He threaded it onto a long, light blue ribbon and tied it around his neck. "Out of all the boys that adore me," he cried mournfully, "why can't Genichirou? It's not _fair_, Diary!" He gave a deep sigh and rubbed his watering eyes, dropped to his knees, and pressed the STOP on his tape-recorder-journal, too upset to say goodbye.

He sniffed and stared at the objects scattered across his floor despairingly, unwilling to collect them and put them back. He just wanted to sit and brood over his terrible misfortune. He rested his chin on his mattress and stared out the bay window on the other side of his room. Usually, he could look out onto his garden, but it was nighttime, and seeing nothing but black brought him no comfort. For all he knew, all of his beauteous flowers had been swallowed by a giant, nightmarish anaconda.

"Oh, please, God…" he purred, squeezing his eyes shut. "Just give me Genichirou and I'll never ask for anything again!" He hesitated, furrowing his eyebrows. "…Until my birthday," he whispered. "Amen." He opened his eyes and ran his fingers gently over the blue and purple stars speckling his white duvet cover.

Then he stood up straight, smoothed a tube of ultra-rich formula lip balm across his mouth and reached to turn off his light. But as his skinny finger touched the switch, his cell began to ring. Yukimura jumped at the sudden noise, then raced to it and ran a nervous hand through his hair. To his disappointment, it wasn't Sanada, but he accepted the call of duty in any case.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone, then glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven, and usually people didn't call him so late. "Hellooo? Renji?" The Master prattled on from the other end, and his jaw dropped at his friend's desperate tone. He wouldn't need a tape recorder to remember any of this.

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Marui groaned at the sound of his alarm clock, informing him that it was time to get up, get dressed, and spend the next six hours in the headache manufactory and social jungle known as Rikkai Dai Fuzokuchuu. He continued groaning as he rolled out of bed, got to his feet, and walked with his back slumped over severely to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, staring blankly at himself in the mirror.

He felt so empty, and it wasn't just his stomach. He'd spent the whole night awake, crying his eyes out because of Kirihara. "Stupid Akaya!" he spat, bouncing his wet toothbrush off the sink. He wasn't going to give in to the stinging feeling behind his eyes or his itchy nose. He wasn't going to cry again. He raced back to his room and dressed, not even bothering to brush his hair.

He sighed once he was out the door at the charcoal sky and the sound of thunder. That day was starting to look just as bad as he did.

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"Looks like the beach is off," sighed Marui quietly to himself as Niou tapped his pen nervously against the pages of his history book.

"What?" he asked so quickly and breathlessly that Marui had to roll his eyes.

"I said why don't you try saying sorry?" He chewed on his lip, unhappy with himself that he was trying to satisfy Niou. But what else could he do? His friend's face was bleached out, there were bags under his eyes, his usual radiant grin had turned into the smile of a cancer patient, and he hadn't even spiked his hair that day. Marui buried his face in his hands momentarily—he and Niou were in the same boat. They needed eachother.

"You think I haven't tried that?" moaned Niou, slamming his head down on his book. "Waaaahhh…" He stretched out his arms, letting his pen drop to the floor, and Marui joined him.

"Well, I haven't even _talked_ to Akaya today… He won't look at me." His voice was muffled by the desk as tears leaked slowly out of his eyes. It made him feel better to know that Niou was probably crying too.

"That sucks," the other boy huffed in response.

"Ah, excuse me…" Marui quickly wiped his eyes and lifted his head to see Yanagi standing above Niou, squeezing his shoulders. His heart sank. Niou hadn't been crying at all. "I need to borrow Niou for a minute."

Niou gave a giant 'I-carry-the-weight-of-the-world-on-my-shoulders' sigh, stood up and closed his book. "Oh, and Marui," said Yanagi with a smile. "The regulars are spending the night at the rec center for my birthday. Will you come?"

"Kirihara?" asked Marui quietly, feeling totally pathetic but unable to care. Yanagi chuckled, as if the catastrophic KRAB operation from the previous night had never happened.

"He's a regular, is he not? Sadaharu's going to be there too, so I hope it doesn't bother you…" He ran a hand through his chocolatey hair nervously, a light pink blushing his cheeks. "Our birthdays are only a day apart…"

"He won't," said Marui through gritted teeth, a bitter emotion washing over him. It must've been nice to be in love without annoying Creeps messing everything up.

"Come at seven," he said with a smile. "See you later…"

Niou heaved up his backpack. "Bye, Marui," he said with a very tired smile, then followed Yanagi. Marui waved half-heartedly until they were both gone, leaving him in his homeroom. He sighed and began to shove his things into his backpack as anxious thoughts began to race through his head. What would Kirihara say to him? Would he even talk to him? Would he even _look_ at him? Would he hurt him, or would he even come knowing Marui would be there? Thinking about it all just made him want to cry all over again.

The bell rang, and he got up to leave, tears smudging his skin. He sped out of the room and down the hall, sobbing. He picked up his speed and ran as fast as he could, before he ran into something, smacking his forehead and falling onto his back. He whimpered and grabbed his head and sighed, wiping his tears, slightly relieved that no one had been around to witness that. Then he stared up at what he'd run into. It was a door with a piece of paper taped on it.

He pulled himself up with the wall and gritted his teeth at it. Written across the white expanse of the paper in bright glittery letters were the words "Rikkai Formal This Week!" It was Friday, and that hadn't been there that morning. He screamed in frustration, then tore it down. He didn't want to think about the stupid, stupid formal. He just wanted to go home, crawl into bed and stay there until school started again in the fall. He crumpled it into a ball and was about to stomp on it when he heard a voice.

"What are you doing?" demanded the angry person, and Marui almost peed his pants. He whirled around, dropping the mangled poster to see Sanada Genichirou standing about ten feet away, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at him.

"O-oh, I was just…" Marui's teeth chattered as he fought back tears, or maybe he was just scared of Sanada. He stared down at the floor and listened to the Emperor's approaching footsteps. Sanada bent down and picked up the trash, then sighed, standing before Marui and straightening out the flyer. "Sorry…"

"You shouldn't vandalize school property," he murmured, and Marui took a step back.

"Yeah, whatever," he muttered, staring at the wrinkled paper in Sanada's hands. His blood ran cold as the larger teen glowered at him. He prepared himself for the lecture, or the slap, whichever came first, but Sanada surprisingly changed the subject.

"You better hurry up before you miss your bus," he said, gesturing towards the door.

Marui shook his head. "No, I walk home," he replied.

Sanada looked pleased. "Good, you're working on your poor endurance."

The redhead frowned, knowing that Sanada hadn't exactly meant that as an insult. "Yeah, sure."

"Hey!" someone called from the end of the hallway. Both regulars turned toward Yukimura, who was standing all alone, one hand behind his back, one waving Sanada's precious baseball cap around. His face was occupied by a toothy grin, giggles seeping from his pretty mouth as if he just couldn't control himself.

He was always so bubbly around Sanada—it made Marui sort of happy but disgusted at the same time. It would be nice to see Yukimura fail at _something_, as terrible as it might be to admit, and when it came to the impassive swordsman, it was impossible to tell if that would be happening any time soon. Sanada's face didn't change as he watched Yukimura giggle like a hyper little girl. "You forgot this!"

The bluenette scampered forward, immediately tripping on himself and falling flat on his face. Marui's violet eyes shot open wide, and he gasped. Sanada instantly raced to Yukimura's side, and the redhead sheepishly decided to follow. "Are you okay, buchou?" he asked as Sanada knelt down and pulled him up to his knees, revealing Yukimura's flushed face and tear-filled eyes.

"I-I'm sorry!" he blurted, quickly rubbing his eyes. Marui frowned sadly. It was obvious that Yukimura was embarrassed, and probably frustrated by Sanada ignoring him all the time.

The dark-haired boy squeezed him around his shoulders, tugging him a little closer. "Don't worry, Seiichi…" Sanada pulled him up sweetly, accepting his cap and putting it on.

"Yeah," agreed Marui, walking alongside them, his eyes still wide. _Oh my God, first name!_ he mind-squealed, grinning as he carried Yukimura's bag. "It's no big deal. I just ran into the door." He felt like he was watching something exclusive. He was the first one who would know whether or not Sanada Genichirou and Yukimura Seiichi could be a perfect couple or get married! Yukimura glanced at him, his eyes wide and glittering and his hand frantically fanning his flushed face.

Marui gave him two thumbs up and tried to imitate his expression. Sanada was oblivious to all of it as he pushed open the door. Marui scampered out first, and Yukimura separated himself from Sanada. "I'm fine, Genichirou," he murmured quietly, and Sanada looked him over.

"You sure?" he asked, his brown eyes roving over him. "It would really suck if you couldn't play in the next game…" he trailed off, and Yukimura gave Marui a miffed glance, which he returned with a pout. Yukimura was obviously frustrated by Sanada's one-track mind. It was even a bit annoying to Marui, and he didn't even hang out with him as much.

"It'll be fine," he muttered, staring at the ground. "Just forget it."

"Wait," said Sanada hastily, wrapping a muscular arm around Yukimura's feminine waist. "You're not upset, are you?" Just like that, the captain's flushed face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"No, I'm not upset," he chuckled, scooting closer to Sanada. Marui squinted as the bright sunlight outside hit him in the face. He couldn't decide if he was happy for Yukimura, annoyed, or just disgusted. It would've had to be all three. "See you tonight," said Yukimura softly to Marui as they parted ways, and he returned his backpack. They lived on opposite sides of the city.

The redhead smiled, slightly relieved to get away from the lovebirds. "Yep," he said, "See ya." Sanada paid no attention to the fact that Marui was leaving them and just kept walking. Yukimura skipped to keep up with him. Marui watched them for a few more seconds, then began to walk down the street in the direction of his house.

Without them, the only distractions possible, he was alone with only himself to talk to. He was determined not to cry as memories of the past week flooded his brain like a hurricane, a natural disaster that no one could stop. He felt like smashing his head into a wall. Sadly, he wondered if Kirihara did the same thing when he was alone.

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Yanagi sighed impatiently into the phone as he watched Niou, who was sitting on his bed, vying ardently to solve his Rubix sphere. "No, Sadaharu, we have it under control…" He paused and crinkled his thin eyebrows as he listened to the voice prattling on the other end. "Please, don't… We don't need anyone meddling…" He looked up at Niou, who had assumed fetal position, his lithe fingers becoming more and more sluggish. "I know that… It's already bad enough… No, I really don't think— …How could _juice_ help?"

Yanagi chewed his bottom lip in frustration, and Niou finally dropped the puzzle, letting it roll onto the floor, and buried his face in Yagyuu's black American Apparel hoodie, which he'd shamelessly stolen. "Look, I have to go. I have to take a shower. We can talk about it later tonight…" Yanagi grinned slowly as he listened to his friend mumbling on the other end. He blushed. "What?" he demanded, failing to arouse Niou. He lowered his tone. "Good_bye, _Sadaharu." he slid his cell closed and set it next to his keyboard, then began to type furiously. "Don't worry, Masaharu," he began sympathetically as his fingers flew over the keys.

He heard the Trickster sit up with a sniffle. "Puri?" His voice was dull and lifeless, and his tanned face was streaked with tears. Yanagi paused from typing for a moment to click on his inbox. It was mostly spam.

"Yagyuu can't stay mad at you forever…" He skimmed the e-mails until he found Yagyuu's reply, then smirked as he began to dispose of the rest of them.

"How do you know that?" Niou slowly folded and unfolded the corner of Yanagi's soft, soothingly grey duvet.

"Because," he began sarcastically, "you still have his hoodie." Yanagi grinned as he pressed the delete button.

**A/N: **Okay, short chapter and long wait. I'm sorry everyone! I'll try to get the next one out waaay sooner… Love you, ciao.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Prince of Tennis and I never will!


	5. In the dark

**Pairings: **major AkaBun, minor Platinum, minor Alpha, minor Data

**Warnings: **shounen ai/yaoi, crossdressing

Kirihara huffed as he banged on the imposing red door, rocking back and forth on his dirty black Nikes. "Jackal!" he called impatiently, banging again. Finally, a tall woman with a flushed face opened the door and glared down him. He shrunk slightly at her death stare.

"Who are you?" she demanded in a heavily accented voice.

"Kirihara Akaya," he muttered quietly, but that didn't lighten the weight of her angry gaze. He took a deep breath and went on. "I'm Jackal's friend…"

She continued the fierce staring contest until Kirihara stared dejectedly at his shoes. Then she turned around and called her son's name in her pinched tone until he was at the door, holding an overnight bag and a pillow. "Sorry, Akaya," he said with a half-smirk, and Kirihara yanked up his Puma duffle bag and shrugged.

"No big deal," he replied as if he meant it, wiping his sweaty palms on his army green cargo shorts.

Jackal bent over and kissed his mother. "Adeus, mae," he muttered, but she stopped him after he took one step on the door. She blatantly pointed to Kirihara and began to speak in rapid Portuguese. Jackal laughed out loud. "Acho que nao," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

She scowled at Kirihara as he anxiously tugged at his hair. "Que pena," she snapped, then slammed the door after her son. Kirihara stared at Jackal, but he just laughed.

"She's mad at you for knocking so hard." Jackal shook his head with a slight scoff. "Don't worry about it. She can be like that." Kirihara nodded appreciatively, his emerald eyes sincerely intent. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Kirihara paused, then took a deep breath. "Marui probably told you what happened, right?" He fidgeted nervously, but he watched Jackal's reaction as the continued down the sidewalk. Jackal's face stayed the same, pleasantly impassive, but he did raise his eyebrows and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

"What? You mean that whole crab thing?" His purple eyes laughed as they rolled over to peer at his face. It made Kirihara smile genuinely for the first time all day.

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head and staring at his shoes. "I mean… He's upset, isn't he?" Kirihara looked up at the sky and twitched his head to shake his slightly overgrown curls out of his eyes.

Jackal paused. "Well…" he began, as if searching for the most appropriate words. "I think he's more sorry… But yeah, he is pretty upset…" He nodded his smooth head assuredly, as if he was remembering an answer for a test.

Kirihara let out a groan. "I can't believe I got played like that…." he sighed, shaking his head in aggravation. "I mean, Jackal, I really, really, really…" he trailed off, staring down at his baggy striped tee.

Jackal looked over at him, smirking. "Like him?"

"Love him…" Kirihara sighed quietly, completely surprised at himself.

The taller boy chuckled. "I had a feeling you'd say something like that…"

The Devil shook his head, unable to stop the grin broadening across his mouth. "I had a feeling I'd say something like that, too."

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Marui pushed open the heavy metal door to the rec center, immediately assaulted by the sound of upbeat pop music. Yanagi bounced over to him and beamed. "Hi, Marui-kun," he giggled, giving a tiny wave. He looked amazing in a pale pink argyle slouchy tee, khaki tweed shorts, a chunky gold watch and silver and pink Reebok Pumps. There was no doubt in Marui's mind that Yanagi did geek chic better than anyone.

"You look great," remarked Marui with a grin as he thrust a grocery bag at Yanagi. "I brought chips… pretty much just cause I thought there wouldn't be any and I wanted some…"

Yanagi chuckled and accepted. "Thank you, Marui." The redhead nodded, then opened his mouth to ask what must've been the anticipated question, because Yanagi beat him to it. "Kirihara's not here yet. Lookie." Grinning, he leaned down to Marui's height and fingered the red crystal-encrusted gold letter R hanging from the matching chain around his neck.

"Wow," muttered Marui, leaning his forehead against the Master's in a display of affection. "Looks expensive," he giggled. "Is it a birthday present?"

Yanagi pulled away, his face flushed as he nodded. "Sadaharu got it for me," he gushed, before they were interrupted by tugs on both of their sleeves. Both turned to see Niou, standing in Yagyuu's American Apparel hoodie, dark wash stovepipe jeans and Vans saddle shoes. He was pouting.

"Hi, guys," he mumbled. "Are we still friends?"

Marui rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't we be?" he asked, an expectant smile spreading over his face.

"Well, what were you guys talking about?" he moped, narrowing his eyes and directing them to Marui's pink Puma flip flops and white and brown knit leg warmers. He smiled suddenly, his whole face lighting up. "Why are you wearing leg warmers in the summer?" he snorted, and the three burst out laughing just like that.

Marui grinned and shrugged, wiggling his purple toenails for them. "We were just talking about Sadaharu," sighed Yanagi. He giggled and blushed at the very mention of his name. They all jumped back when the left half of the wide double doors was suddenly reopened again.

Sanada peeked inside before entering. "Why are you guys all standing by the door?" he asked, his perma-oblivious expression prevalent. He pushed inside, and everyone groaned when they saw that he was toting his Prince racket bag. "What?" he asked, removing his hat to smooth his dark hair. He wore a navy wife beater, black basketball shorts, and trendy purple Asics.

"So where is Inui?" asked Marui as he walked into the café with Yanagi, while Niou chose to latch onto Sanada's arm and inquire about the every detail of his Gentleman's day.

"He's programming a light show in the basketball court," he answered dreamily, then broke into uncontrollable giggles. "Isn't he so adorable?"

Marui sighed. "You're really into this guy, aren't you?" He smiled sadly as Yanagi beamed and blushed. He was happy for him, but when could he be happy for himself? When would Kirihara buy him adorable love gifts and program light shows for him? Would he ever?

Yanagi pulled Marui down at one of the glass tables in the monochrome café and stared intensely at him with his sharp brown eyes. "We made out," he whisper-squealed, and despite his disappointment about Kirihara, Marui wasn't selfish enough to keep himself from grinning from ear to ear and bouncing up and down in his chair.

"When?" he demanded, his whole body jostling uncontrollably.

"Before you got here. Niou was outside on the phone with his mom, and that's when he gave me this—" Yanagi jiggled his necklace excitedly—"and then he kissed me and we just… did it!"

Marui seized his hands and squealed. "I'm so happy for you!" he exclaimed, really meaning it, even though the fact that Kirihara hadn't kissed _him_ yet grated against his heart like a pokey rib.

"Thank you!" Yanagi giggle-squealed back. They held eachother's hands and jumped up and down and laughed uncontrollably until the sound of the door opening and closing interrupted them. Yagyuu stood, wearing a blue and white Ralph Lauren rugby shirt, khaki chinos and his white and red ECCO golf shoes, a green overnight bag was slung over his shoulder.

"Hiro-chan!" shouted Niou, moving to throw his arms around his neck. Yagyuu stepped out of the way, and the glower on his face was enough to send him sulking back to Sanada.

"Happy birthday, Yanagi-kun," he called out, his lips smiling. Marui glanced over to see Niou's face contort with jealousy and pain, and, by the way Yagyuu turned his head ever so slightly in his partner's direction, so did he.

"Thanks, Yagyuu," muttered Yanagi, but he was facing Niou, looking miffed. There was no doubt that Yagyuu was purposely being a jerk. He hurried to Niou's side, then dragged him away to another section of the rec center.

Yagyuu smiled sadistically to himself. "You're wel—" he began, but he was interrupted by the door opening on him. He took a few steps towards Sanada, and Yukimura stood against the blue sky outside. Marui gasped, slapping his hand over his mouth to suppress giggles, Sanada's jaw dropped, and Yagyuu's lips pressed together, forming a thin, hard line. The door closed slowly behind him.

Yukimura was dressed in a powder blue tiered lace skirt, black YSL suede pumps, and an off-the-shoulder black top with the word god written across the top in all capital silver letters with a tiny square period at the end. He was beaming, holding giant bouquet of adorable tea roses and tugging a super-expensive Louis Vuitton suitcase behind him. But his smile faded quickly as he scanned the room. "Where's Renji?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"What are you wearing?" blurted Marui, his voice broken by laughter.

Yukimura's face turned bright red, and he glared at him. "What?" he began, stomping his high-fashion shoe on the clean tiled floor. "I'm a boy, so I'm not allowed to wear this? Is that what you're saying?"

Marui's mouth hung open, and he tried desperately not to laugh again as Sanada and Yagyuu exchanged surprised glances. He tried to speak, but he was promptly interrupted. "Society is not the boss of me!" he exclaimed, and Marui's face flushed the same color as his hair.

"Sorry," he squeaked, and the conversation was interrupted by Yagyuu's voice.

"What's in the suitcase?" he asked quietly, craning his neck curiously.

"Hopefully different shoes." Niou grinned from behind Marui, and he whipped his head around to see him. He was standing with Yanagi and Inui, who had somehow managed to sneak up on him. Niou looked surprisingly fine after Yagyuu's attack.

The group laughed and even Yukimura grinned as he hurried over to Yanagi and pulled him into a giant hug, then gave him the flowers. "They're so beautiful," Yanagi sighed, burying his flushing face in them. He looked delighted by Yukimura's gift, but Marui had a feeling it had more to do with Inui.

The buchou grinned. "You really liked them?" he asked, suddenly as sweet as could be. "They're from my garden…"

"They're… perfect," he murmured, leaning his head on Inui's shoulder. The tall megane returned the favor with a giant grin.

"But really," muttered Marui, tugging Yukimura's shirt, "what _is_ in that suitcase?"

He stared down at him with his bright eyes, smirking. "Wouldn't you like to know," he sang quietly. Marui frowned at him expectantly, but he didn't respond.

The door opened for the last time, and Jackal walked through, grinning in a black plaid button-down, Diesel jeans, red and white Ecko shoes and a DC baseball cap. "Hey everyone," he called. Marui lifted his hand to wave to his double's partner, but his heart sunk further and further as the door closed more and more.

Marui averted his vision, fighting the burning in the backs of his eyes. Kirihara wasn't coming. He hated Marui. He would never kiss him or hold him or hug him or love him. Then, right as the door was about to close completely, a filthy, black Nike Rivalry stuck between it and the frame, preventing it from closing. Marui's heart began to thump rapidly, and he couldn't decide if this was better or worse. Kirihara shoved through the door, his arms full of party games, DVD's, and snacks. His legendary black GBA balanced precariously on top of everything.

He snorted. "Thanks for leaving me outside with all your shit," he groaned, and Marui swooned. He looked adorable in his green and yellow striped Hurley tee, his worn green cargo shorts and his blue Nike Fear No Evil varsity jacket. Marui wanted to fall out of his seat as his mischievous green eyes scanned the room before locking onto his. His heartbeat became the only sound in the room. He only had one question racing through his mind. _What's going to happen?_

Kirihara looked Marui up and down the way he always did when he first saw him, in an adorable 'I-need-to-make-sure-nothing-bad-happened-to-you-since-we-last-met' way. Marui just kept his eyes locked on him, even though he desperately wanted to unzip his black Juicy hoodie and reveal the skin-tight purple and pink tank top he was wearing underneath, or adjust his black gym shorts so that less of his thighs were showing. But instead, he was going to maintain eye contact so that he didn't look self-conscious. It was a trick he'd learned from Yukimura, who always got attention for his looks, even if he didn't look that good.

Finally, Kirihara flashed him a bright toothy smile. Marui couldn't believe it. He took a quick glance around to see if he was smiling at someone else, but the crowd behind him had dispersed, and Kirihara was looking right at him. He smiled back, wider than he even had in his life, wanting to cry with relief. Jackal grabbed the things he was holding, uttering a quick apology. "C'mere, Bunta," he called, and Marui rolled his eyes, recharged by newfound confidence.

He stood up and walked over to Jackal, deciding not to acknowledge Kirihara. "Yeah?" he asked, looking up at him.

"Here," answered Kirihara instead, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and producing a shiny purple rectangle. He waved it in front of Marui's face, and the familiar sweet smell filled his nostrils. He took it gently from his hand and examined it. It was grape bubblegum. He looked up at Kirihara, crinkling his eyebrows.

"Why?" he asked quietly. That why could've meant anything. Why are you giving me this? Why aren't you still mad at me? Why haven't you kissed me yet? Why aren't we dating? Why do you have to look so cute in that jacket? Why, why, why, _why?_

Kirihara leaned in closer, making Marui blush. "I noticed you haven't been chewing gum lately, so I thought maybe you ran out…" he said softly, but the intimacy in his green eyes suggested something much deeper.

Marui tilted his head, unable to believe that he'd noticed something like that. Selfish, violent, cruel, stupid Kirihara had actually noticed when Marui had been so stressed out that he had forgotten his trademark habit… Keeping his eyes locked on Kirihara's, he unwrapped the gum, put one in his mouth, chewed it up and popped a fruity-scented bubble in his face, then he grinned, turned around, and skipped away. He didn't even look back to see the confused look on Kirihara's face.

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Marui stared out the huge floor to ceiling window at the purpling sky, sighing. It was unbelievably how quickly the weather had changed from that morning, but it made him smile anyway. Maybe it was a sign that his life was looking up. He glanced back to Yukimura who sat next to him on the plush purple couch, attacking his piece of Yanagi's birthday cake with a fork. His eyes were intently focused on nothing, and Marui knew that there was something on his mind.

"What's up?" asked Marui, pulling his fork off his empty plate and started to eat Yukimura's.

"Huh?" he asked a bit nervously, his eyes getting wide and silky waves falling over his face. He quickly swiped them away, and Marui raised an eyebrow. "Oh, umm, what?"

"You seem kind of spacey…" replied Marui, swallowing the sugary dessert in his mouth. "Is it something about Sanada?"

"Sanada?" repeated Yukimura dreamily, like it was the first time he'd ever heard his name. He stabbed a spongy piece of cake and began to swirl it around on the styrofoam plate.

Marui slapped his arm. "Yeah, Sanada! What's with you?"

Yukimura closed his eyes and smiled, leaning forward to set the remainder of his cake on the ultramodern Tavi magazine table in front of them. "Nothing," he giggled. Then he stood up, grabbed his Louis, and walked off, dragging his designer luggage behind him.

"Yu…Yukimura?" called Marui half-heartedly after him. But he just kept walking, his expensive heels click-clacking on the floor on his way over to Yanagi and Niou, who were huddled in the corner whispering. He narrowed his eyes, watching him. He was strangely inseparable from that suitcase of his… Then he scanned the immediate area.

Yanagi and Yukimura were sitting on the floor next to the foosball table while Niou stood above them, glumly twisting one of the handles and staring down at all the tiny soccer players inside. Inui and Sanada were engaged in a heated match of air hockey, the odd megane threatening the loser with his mysterious purple juice, and Jackal and Kirihara were having way too much fun playing Hacky Sack. "Hey, where's Yagyuu?" called Marui after noticing his absence.

Niou looked up and stared at Marui, then, like a depressed puppy dog, he lowered his head back to the athletes inside the table, the ones that couldn't break his heart. Sanada answered instead, his strong features still focused intently on his game with Inui. "He-said-he-was-going-outside," he slurred quickly in monotone. Niou's hand twitched, but he didn't move.

Marui rolled his eyes. "I'll go get him," he offered. "Wanna come, Niou?"

"No, puri," replied the Trickster in barely a mumble. Marui sighed loudly, then headed towards the doors leading out of the rec center.

"Hey, he went out that way," said Inui, motioning with his neck to a door on the side of the building. He was much more dexterous at talking and playing at the same time than Sanada was.

"Thanks," said Marui, walking towards the door slowly to give Niou a chance to follow him. He didn't. He decided to let it go and walked out the door. "Yagyuu?" he called, pulling off his jacket immediately once he was out in the heat. It had finally become completely dark, and the cloudless sky offered a view of thousands of stars and the new moon. "You out here?"

He didn't receive an answer, but he hadn't called that loud, so he walked down the steps and glanced around. His eyes widened as they lighted on Yagyuu. He was sitting on the ground, his back against the side of the concrete staircase. Marui took a deep breath of the menthol cigarette-scented air. "Yagyuu?" he exclaimed in disbelief.

The golfer jumped, then glared over at Marui, snatching the cigarette out of his mouth. His hand was shaking. "You scared me," he growled, the pale fluorescent light hanging on the outside of the building bathing his already fair skin and making him look almost white. His glasses hung from the front of his shirt, and his caustic grey eyes were just as scary as they were captivating.

"You smoke?" asked Marui in disbelief. The glare he got from him was enough to make him quiet his tone. "I mean… I just never really expected you of all people to…"

"I smoke maybe _twice_ a month," snapped Yagyuu aggressively. He took an irritated drag on the cigarette, and Marui could see the vein in his neck throbbing.

He took a deep breath and sat down next to him. "Don't worry," he said negligently. "I'm not gonna tell anyone…"

Yagyuu's face softened and he looked down at Marui gratefully. "Thank you," he said. "If anyone knew that I smoked, my reputation would be pretty much ruined…"

Marui stared up at the sky and laughed slightly. "So, how do you get them?" he mused quietly.

Yagyuu grinned as he exhaled the white smoke, and it contrasted against the black sky. "Promise you won't tell anyone? _Especially_ Masa—eh, Niou-kun?" Marui nodded excitedly and drew an X over his heart in anticipation. "Chikane-chan buys them for me," he answered, shaking his head and chuckling a little.

"His sister?" blurted Marui loudly. Yagyuu nodded, and they both started to laugh. "That's crazy…" the redhead sighed, and Yagyuu nodded again, silently conveying his agreement. They were quiet for a few minutes, and Marui's thoughts lingered on Niou and Yagyuu. It was depressing to see that two of his best friends were fighting over something as stupid as CREEP, and he couldn't help feeling like it was his fault. After all, he would go to the formal with Kirihara anytime now. Did that make him a CREEP? Did that make Niou and Yagyuu's problems his fault?

Suddenly, the light overhead snapped off, and someone screamed from inside the rec center. "What happened?" gasped Marui breathlessly. Yagyuu seemed much less affected.

"That sounded like buchou…" he murmured, putting his cigarette out on the ground. Marui groped around in the darkness until he found Yagyuu's shoulder, who was standing up. "We should get inside and see what's going on before they lock us out…"

Marui nodded and stumbled after Yagyuu, not that he would ever know that. Marui was also the reason that Yagyuu was mad at Niou, not that he would ever know that either. After all, they were in the dark. 

**A/N: **So there's five. You're welcome everyone.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Prince of Tennis and I never will.


	6. Skylights

**Pairings: **major AkaBun, minor Platinum, minor Alpha, minor Data

**Warnings: **shounen ai/yaoi, crossdressing, lime

"What happened?" asked Yagyuu as he and Marui returned. Their friends sat at a table, huddled around an LED emergency light as if it was their only warmth in a snowstorm. Marui pulled out a chair and sat next to Kirihara, scooting closer to him so that their shoulders were touching. Yagyuu kept his distance, probably because he worried about smelling like smoke.

"The power just went out," explained Jackal. He hugged himself as if huddling for warmth, even though without the power, it was just going to get hotter. "And Niou's missing."

"Then I'm sure _he_ did this," muttered Yagyuu. Kirihara scoffed quietly, but he didn't offer his opinion. Marui stared up at him, and he met his gaze with a sympathetic half-smirk. The redhead couldn't help but grin back, just because Kirihara was smiling at him.

"It's not funny," hissed Yukimura, perhaps seeing the two smiling or maybe reprimanded Yagyuu. "He's all alone, in the dark, with no flashlight, in a _huge_ place… He could get hurt." The bright shine from the light illuminated his pouty face.

"Call him," Yagyuu insisted, but Sanada shook his head and held up Niou's orange LG Rumor Touch. The purple haired boy tensed, and Inui spoke up to keep the peace.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," he promised, chuckling nervously.

"It's not _funny!_" Yukimura snapped again. Inui quieted down, and Yanagi set his hand on his arm and flashed him the kind of look you give to a puppy that just got in trouble.

Yagyuu shifted, maybe debating whether or not he should admit that he actually cared or not. "Give me that flashlight," he growled. "I'll go look for him myself. I can't believe you guys haven't moved."

"Yanagi told us not to," sang Kirihara mockingly. He was obviously amused by the whole situation, which was potentially dangerous with all the tension. Marui stared at him, silently begging him not to cause trouble, but that was about as useful as trying to stop a subway train with a fork and a slingshot.

Yagyuu shot Yanagi a dark glare, and the brunette shifted slightly in his seat. "We only have one light. It would be better for us all to stay together, and you and Marui were still outside…"

"There's bound to be more than one flashlight in this place," murmured Jackal, glancing around suspiciously. Kirihara propped his elbows up on the table and leaned towards him.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Jackal?" he asked in a hushed tone. He proceeded in making haunted house noises until Jackal shoved his head away.

Sanada glared. "That's _enough_, Akaya. Why don't you and Marui go look for another flashlight?" He wrapped his arm around Yukimura and tugged him close. "Go on."

Kirihara shrugged, straightening back up. "All right," he said evenly. "Come on, Bunta-chan. Try not to get lost…" He snickered and made more haunted house sounds, and Marui grinned as he smacked his shoulder blade.

"Cut it out, bastard," he giggled, grabbing his arm and they stepped outside the circle of light. Marui sighed, running his fingers up and down Kirihara's steely bicep. How could it be that he was all alone, in complete darkness with a demon and he'd never felt safer? Kirihara opened a door that Marui didn't even know was there. "Do you know where we are?" he asked as he hesitantly followed Kirihara's sure steps.

"Yep," he said, and Marui clung closer to him as he listened to the squeak of Kirihara's tennis shoes and the flip-flop of his Pumas.

"Well… Where are we going?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper, just because it felt like he should. He wanted to stop and sit down—his heart was beating so fast it felt like he was going to pass out. Had he always been this nervous when they were alone together?

"The pool," answered Kirihara as if it were obvious. "It has skylights so you can see too. Also, there's probably another emergency light in there." Marui started to run his fingers up and down Kirihara's frigid skin again.

"You mean you can see?" he asked him, scooching even closer.

"Of course I can see," he responded quietly. "Akuma are meant for the darkness, after all…"

Marui quieted. Weren't akuma terrible monsters that didn't feel love or guilt and only wanted to hurt people? He stopped talking and kept following him through the dark halls, until he came to a sudden halt, nearly causing Marui to slam into him. "A-are we here?" he asked. Kirihara's freezing fingers suddenly intertwined with his, and he broke into an instantaneous cold sweat. His heart began to beat double time. Monster or not, Kirihara was holding his hand, and nothing could've made him happier.

"Yeah…" Kirihara replied with a purr. Marui's heart beat so fast that it seemed to get tired and stop. Swiftly, he was shoved against the door and his hands were pinned above his head. He made a squeak on contact, unable to believe that something so tiny had knocked the wind completely out of him. Kirihara's free hand unzipped his jacket slowly before crawling up his shirt.

Marui moaned loudly, unable to control himself. "What are you doing?" he gasped, sounding more pleased than confused.

"Shut up," snarled Kirihara softly into his ear, and Marui could feel his big grin against him. He stroked his nipple as he scraped his teeth down Marui's sensitive skin, and he moaned loudly in response, inadvertently rubbing his groin against Kirihara's. This time, he moaned too, thrusting more of his weight onto Marui and grinding him vehemently.

Marui let out a gasp before Kirihara pressed his smooth lips onto his, his mouth working fiercely. Before Marui had a chance to react and kiss back, the black-haired boy thrust his tongue into his mouth and rubbed his sensually. Marui tried to struggle, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in Kirihara's hold. He could feel saliva running down his chin, and he tried to move his hand to wipe it away.

He was overcome with panic when he realized his arms couldn't move, and his wrists twitched beneath the force of Kirihara's bruising grip. He turned his head to break the kiss, but the younger boy didn't miss a beat, and he sucked the skin on his neck feverishly. Marui mewled and wiggled around. "A…kaya," he gasped, "Please, stop, Akaya… I-I can't… Stop, please…"

But his pleas did nothing. In fact, Kirihara seemed even more passionate than before. He struggled anxiously as Kirihara began to yank off his shorts. "N-no!" screamed Marui, trying desperately to loose his hands. "Kirihara, stop it! I don't want to! I don't want—aaaaaaah!" The door they were leaning against suddenly clicked open, and they both fell through and onto the floor.

Marui took the chance to get away quickly and inhaled the strong scent of chlorine. A pale, blue light spilled through the skylights, enhancing the creepy, fog-induced aura of the room. Kirihara groaned and sat up. "Sorry, Bunta… I guess I got a little… carried away."

Marui looked over at him and pouted, then got up on his feet and walked around the walls, searching for the emergency light. "That shitty door," complained Kirihara from the ground, making no move to stand up or help Marui. "Careful you don't fall in, Bunta…"

"I found it!" called Marui triumphantly as he removed the light from the wall. He grinned as a halo of light brightened up the space around him, then scurried back to Kirihara. "We'd better get back—"

Kirihara took a huge step forward so that their bodies were touching, and Marui stared up at him, blushing, as he traced his fingers along the redhead's collarbone. "Bunta," he whispered. "Um, listen… I've been thinking a lot about… what happened… you know, the crab, and… whatever—"

"Can we just not talk about that?" he giggle-groaned, clutching at Kirihara's fingers with his free hand.

"Yeah, well…" Kirihara leaned forward a little more so that his lips met Marui's forehead. "I just have a question…" His warm breath on his skin gave him goosebumps.

"Yeah?" breathed Marui. This was it! Kirihara was finally going to ask him to the formal and make everything he and the matchMAKERs had worked so hard for worth while and—

"What's a CREEP?"

The room was suddenly dead silent, and the question impacted Marui like a ton of tiramisu. Great. Just another thing for Kirihara to hate him over. He hesitated before fumbling for an appropriate answer. He decided that playing dumb would be his best option. "Um, well, it's just someone who's like… creepy, you know?" He pulled back and grinned, his voice unnaturally high and cheerful.

Kirihara shook his head, tossing his silky black curls. "No, I mean, like that thing you always talk to Jackal about. _The_ CREEPs. The C-R-E-E-P people… Who is it?"

Marui pressed his lips together and held his breath, making a mental note to kill Jackal for blabbing his secrets. His mouth was suddenly dry like he had tried to eat sand. "Uh…"

Suddenly, the refrain of 2NE1's _Fire_ blared from his pocket, and he gave a giant sigh, reaching into the pocket of his hoodie. "Hello?" he answered, and Kirihara straightened up.

"Where are you guys?" asked Jackal from the other end. "Did you find another light?"

"Yeah, yeah…" sighed Marui, running a clammy hand through his hair. "Did Niou come back?"

"He's fine," replied Jackal. "Look, meet us at the basketball court, okay? We're gonna play a game."

"What are we playing?" asked Marui, but it was too late. Jackal had hung up on him. "Ugh." He slipped his phone back into his pocket and grabbed Kirihara by the arm. "They're all in the basketball court," he explained quickly, and Kirihara gave him a rakish grin before grabbing his hand.

"Can't we, um, stay here for a minute?" he asked slyly, wrapping his arm around Marui's waist and nuzzling him.

"Hmph. I guess it wouldn't hurt…" Marui propped his elbow on Kirihara's hard shoulder. "Jackal hung up on my anyw—mm!" He closed his eyes slowly, smiling into the younger boy's kiss.

okokokokokokok

Marui frowned as he watched what was unfolding in the basketball court. The party attendees had formed a circle around the emergency light where they all sat kindergarten style. Kirihara bounced up to them fearlessly and scooted into the circle between Jackal and Sanada. Marui followed behind quickly, and Yukimura and Niou parted for him. He sat between them and stared over the light at Kirihara before contributing his to the center of the circle.

"Good," sighed Inui, pushing the lights together. His rectangular glasses gleamed, hiding his eyes from onlookers. "Now we have two lights." He grinned.

"Can we know what we're playing?" asked Niou excitedly, grabbing Yanagi's shoulder and bouncing up and down.

"We're going to play…" began Yanagi quietly, stealing a dramatically furtive glance amongst the players. "Duck, duck, animal!"

"What's _that?_" groaned Sanada, as if he was being forced to get up three hours early and scrub the bathroom with a toothbrush.

"It's just like duck, duck, goose, only instead of goose, you say a different animal…" explained Renji, tapping his bottom lip thoughtfully. "And you chase them around like that animal would. Get it?"

"How stupid," snapped Sanada. Kirihara chortled.

"It's my birthday," whined Yanagi. "I'll go first." He jumped up, then paced around the circle once—Niou, Marui, Yukimura, Jackal, Kirihara, Sanada, Yagyuu—and paused behind Inui. Then he tapped his head with one finger, uttering a flirtatious, "Duck…" before tousling Niou's messy hair and shouting, "Bunny!"

"No fair," giggled the Trickster as he stood up, hopping around the circle as fast as he could. Yanagi easily outran him and sat down in Niou's old spot. The silver-haired boy stopped jumping and gave a giant huff, then began to stomp around the circle. He patted everyone's head in turn until he came to the near-end of the formation.

Yagyuu stared up at him expectantly, but he refused to give him the satisfaction of returning it. Instead, he stopped behind Sanada and stole his cap. "Beautiful sexy fairy girl!" Everyone burst out laughing, and Sanada got up and tore after him, making no attempt whatsoever to look like a fairy and obviously fighting a smile.

"That's _not_ an animal!" he yelled after Niou, who barely managed to outrun him and steal his spot. He purposely leaned towards Kirihara to avoid Yagyuu. He tossed Sanada's cap to Yukimura, who caught it and giggled with delight.

"Duck," sighed Sanada, patting Yagyuu's head, "duck, duck, duck…" He placed his hand on Marui's head. "Hmm, puppy," he uttered carelessly. Marui rolled his eyes and scuffled after Sanada on his hands and knees, who jogged slowly to torture him.

"Hurry up," whined Marui. Sanada took Marui's spot next to Yukimura and stole his hat back, and Marui stood up behind Kirihara, who was still giggling, and reached down to gently pull his hair. "Duck…" He slapped Jackal's scalp as payback for the CREEP spillage. "Duck…" He smirked, ignoring Jackal's testy ow noise. He touched Yukimura's silky blue waves. "Bird."

Yukimura got up as Marui skipped away, giggling. "I can't run in these heels," he whined, flapping his hands like he was trying to get his nail polish to dry faster. Everyone laughed, and Marui stole his place. Yukimura clicked along the circle, humming to himself. "Duck… duck… duck…" His voice trailed off, and Marui stared at him skeptically.

"You okay, buchou?" asked Jackal, but Yukimura didn't answer him. Instead, he collapsed onto the floor. Everyone jumped up, but Sanada beat everyone to him.

He scooped him up into his arms. "Seiichi," he breathed. "What happened?"

Yukimura gasped, clinging to Sanada as if his life depended on it. "M-my legs feel all numb…" he whimpered pathetically.

"It must be his GBS," murmured Yanagi, looking horrified.

"GBS?" repeated Inui, crinkling his eyebrows.

"Guillain-Barré syndrome," answered Yagyuu and Niou at the same time. They glanced at eachother, then quickly looked away.

"Why don't you take him to the infirmary?" suggested Yanagi quietly. "I'll show you where it is."

"Marui," whined Yukimura from Sanada's brawny arms. "I need Marui to come too."

"O-okay…" agreed Marui, glancing at Kirihara. He gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up, then handed Yanagi the emergency light.

"Sadaharu," said Yanagi, staring at his childhood friend sadly like he was the heroine in the movie who had just made the sacrifice for the greater good and would never see her lover again. "Teach them how to play ghost in the graveyard."

"All right…" said Inui, and everyone stood up as the four left the room. As they walked behind Yanagi down the dark hallways, Marui listened to their steady chants growing farther and farther away.

_One o clock… Two o clock… Three o clock… Four o clock… Five o clock… Six o clock… Seven o clock… Eight o clock… Nine o clock… Ten o clock… Eleven o clock… Midnight! I really hope I don't see a ghost tonight…_

Marui grinned as he heard Kirihara's distant dinosaur roar and Niou's giggly scream, and he couldn't help wishing he was with them. "Here we are," said Yanagi, leaning forward and opening the door. Suddenly, the lights flickered on and the group gave a collective sigh of relief. Yanagi giggled. "How convenient."

Sanada set Yukimura down on one of the beds, and he suddenly smiled. "Thanks for helping us, Genichirou." Sanada gave him a warm, goofy smile, and Yanagi quickly locked the door.

"What's going on?" demanded Marui. "You _faked_ it, buchou?"

Yukimura nodded proudly. "Yep," he said. "I'm a CREEP now!" He unzipped his Louis, which was lying on the bed next to his, and Marui looked over interestedly. Pins, needles, yards of sweet pink fabric, a pair of scissors, spools of thread and a measuring tape were all neatly packed inside.

"What _is_ all that?" he asked and Yanagi grinned.

"Welcome to Operation GBS!" he chirped and Yukimura unzipped Marui's jacket and pulled it from his body.

"Guillain-Barré syndrome?" he asked, frowning.

"Get Bunta's size," corrected Yanagi pointedly. Marui rolled his amethyst eyes as Yukimura measured him efficiently. Sanada simply watched Yukimura with a sickeningly dreamy expression.

"Size for _what?_" he asked, knowing better than to try to foil their plans. The CREEPs would do what the CREEPs wanted to do.

"I'm making you a dress," explained Yukimura in a bubbly tone, "to wear to the formal! Because I know you'd never buy one…" He began to wrap the pieces of fabric around Marui and pin them together, then instructed him to step up on the bed.

"This'll take forever," Marui groaned.

"Please," replied Yukimura. "It won't take that long…"

"Ow!" squealed Marui pinched him in the side with a needle. The buchou giggled an apology. The only thing faker than his sorry was the lies Marui would have to make up to explain to Kirihara why he'd gone missing for three hours.

okokokokokokok

"Wake up…"

Marui rolled over onto his stomach, rubbing the side of his face against the plush couch he was sleeping on. He heard whoever was talking to him, but he didn't open his eyes. He didn't answer. He was just going to pretend like it wasn't there, and maybe it would go a—

"Waaaaaaake uuuuuuuup, puri!" Niou—he now knew it was Niou because of the utterance of his annoying catchword—began to jostle his body roughly until Marui was forced to sit.

"I'm up, I'm up…" he groaned, rubbing his sleepy eyes and looking up at Niou. "What do you want?" He glanced around at all his friends. Everyone had essentially passed out on a respective piece of furniture or on a blanket.

"Come outside with me," he pleaded. "I can't sleep and I want someone to talk to." He tugged his long bangs absentmindedly.

"Get Renji," dismissed Marui. "I wanna go back to bed." Niou frowned and gestured to Yanagi, who was sleep-snuggling Inui on the floor. Marui rolled his eyes, moving to get up.

"Don't step on Kirihara," warned Niou, pointed to Rikkai's ace, who was curled up in a little ball next to the couch. "I almost did."

"Awww," cooed Marui fondly, carefully stepping over him and following Niou out the doors. "What time is it?" he asked once they were outside, leaning over the railing on the same steps he had walked down to find Yagyuu.

Niou reached into the pocket of the kidnapped hoodie he was wearing and pulled out his cell. "Four, almost," he answered, before stowing it safely away once again.

Marui gave a single nod, not able to care that it was four in the morning and he should've been in bed. He was determined to be there for Niou, even if his head ached and his hair was a mess. It was his fault that Niou and Yagyuu were fighting, and he was determined to fix it. "So what'd you wanna talk about?"

Niou sighed loudly, shifting. "I think I'll fake my own death," he explained. "Like, fake suicide…"

"Why would you wanna do that?" asked Marui, unwrapping a piece of the gum Kirihara had given him. He smiled slightly, knowing that the taste would forever remind him of him.

"To get Yagyuu to be nice to me," he sighed. "If he thinks I'm suicidal, then he'll _have_ to start being nice to me again, right?"

"Niou," sighed Marui, popping his gum. "Yagyuu will come around. He's just mad, I guess, so he's acting like a jerk. If you just say sorry, then—" Marui was suddenly silent, surprised at the sound of his friend crying.

"I've already tried," he sobbed, wiping the uncontrollable rivulets of tears that streamed down his cheeks. "He hates me too much now! I mean, I know I pushed him too far, but, he's been being so mean to me…" Niou sniffled as more tears leaked down his face.

Marui frowned and wrapped his arm around his crying friend's waist, realizing that the only thing he could really do for Niou was to be there for him.

**A/N: **Chapter six, yay! There's your make out scene, Nami. You're welcome. Yagyuu smoking? I just thought it would be hot. xD (Is a Yagyuu fan.)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Prince of Tennis and never will.


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